Snares and Strawberries
by SunsetGirl19
Summary: Madge and Gale go into the 74th Games, but Madge has a secret. Every since she was a little girl, she has been able to see a young woman that looks oddly similar to her, a girl no one else can see. A girl named Maysilee Donner. What happens when Madge and Gale go into the Games with Madge's secret advantage? Read and Find out! UPDATED REGULARLY! Gadge
1. The Reaping

**Hi guys! Okay so this is my fist fanfic so go easy on me but I think this story is pretty awesome! Enjoy :D**

_**Chapter 1**_

"Strawberry or vanilla?"

I study the two cupcakes careful, "Hmmmm, strawberry!"

The young baker laughs as he hands over the pastry, "Should have known."

I smile back at him as I unwrap the goody, handing him the coins to pay for it.

"Peeta!" I bite back a cringe as the shrill voice of Mrs. Mellark cuts across the shop. Does she always have to yell? The bakery is truly not big enough for her to have to shout. Peeta sighs as he calls back, "Yes Mother?"

"Finish up with the front then come wipe down the back counters! And stop taking your sweet time, we have to get going soon!" He sighs again giving me a small apologetic smile. "Its okay," I tell him before he can apologize, "I better get going anyway. I'll see you after the Reaping?" He nods quickly coming around the counter to hug me goodbye.

"Good luck, Peeta."

"You too, Madge" he says giving me a quick squeeze before releasing me. He looks down at me with a sarcastic smile and says in his best Capitol accent "And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

I laugh, pushing him away, "Hurry up before your mother comes out and hangs you up by your shoe strings." He laughs again and I make a hasty out the door, the jingling bell announcing my departure.

I race home, quickly nibbling on my cupcake and trying to fight the ache in my stomach. Reaping day. The one day a year where every citizen of Panem shares the same feeling of dread and fear. Well, at least most of the citizens, give or take the bloodthirsty Careers that think of the Hunger Games as some sort of sporting event. Which in a way it is, a sporting event to entertain Capitol citizens as they watch innocent children kill each other on television.

I feel the stares and mutters as I pass by people on their way home to get ready for the Reaping. The muttered comments about the spoiled pampered mayor daughter. By now I'm almost used to it, being welcomed by the snide comments and cruel glares. They hate me, and why do they hate me? Because I have food in my belly and money in my pocket, two things many go without. The only person I have is Peeta, but even our relationship is wishy-washy. We're friends, best friends ever since we could remember, but at school we are friendly acquaintances. It's my fault really, I asked him when we were around eleven to stop eating lunch with me, I knew I was holding him back from branching out, he was one of those kids that everyone likes, everyone says hi to in the halls, probably because he is the nicest person I know. I knew by being friends with me publicly he was dooming himself so I stepped in and asked him to stop. Of course I made up another reason why, if he knew my real reasoning he would never have gone for it. And then there's Katniss Everdeen, the girl I eat lunch with though I'm not quite sure if she thinks of me as a friend.

"I'm home!" I call as I walk into my home. "Madge! There you are dear I was beginning to worry." Nora smiles at me as she finishes washing the dishes. She's been our housekeeper for as long as I can remember, her husband died in a mining accident years ago and she soon after came to work for us. She a kind woman, sweet and caring and quite lenient on the rules. She never had any children of her own, but she has always been a second mother to me. "Sorry, I just stopped by the bakery on my way home." "Oh, huh you usually take upwards of an hour visiting Peeta." She teasing flicks some soapy water at me. I laugh, " Well Mrs. Mellark started her screeching fest so I got out of there pretty fast."

"Oh I see, Mrs. Mellark right. Not any other reason you raced home?" My cheeks burn as I quickly excuse myself to go change, hearing her laughter as I climb the stairs.

I close the door behind me with a sigh, "Smooth." I mutter under my breath. '"Well, I thought it wasn't so bad." I turn around to see a girl looking eerily similar to me sitting cross-legged on my bed.

I smile "Hi Maysilee."

* * *

I see my dead aunt. I've seen her since I was a little girl, believing in my childhood ignorance that she was my imaginary playmate. Then I realized what she truly was. A ghost. A phantom. A spirit. Call it what you may she was my aunt. Although we act more like sisters than anything else. Which I admit is pretty weird. No one else sees her, while except for maybe my mother but I never asked her about it and she never brings it up.

" How's Peeta?" she asks smiling at me. She is, or was, my mother's identical twin although she barely resembles my headache ridden mother now. Of course that could be because she never aged, forever sixteen years old, the same age I currently am. She wear the same dress that I've always seen her in, a short tea-length flowing white lace dress, the dress she wore to her final Reaping. Her hair is the exact same color gold as mine, flowing down to the middle of her back in waves. The blue of her eyes is the precise shade of the endless blue sky, the same shade as mine. The only thing to suggest that her is beyond this world is that slight simmer that radiates off her body, giving off a slight misty glow.

I slump down on the bed next to her, "He's good. His mother is as cheerful as ever."

She laughs, " Well, Meredith never was a very merry person."

I nod in agreement, "Do you know what time it is?"

She smiles slyly, "Oh, I'd guess about twenty minutes or so till strawberry delivery." She laughs as I scowl at her, my school girl crush on Gale Hawthorne was of endless amusement for her. "Well you best be getting ready if you want to look dolled up for the boy with the snares." I throw a pillow at her but she easily dodges out of the way. I push myself off my bed, making my way to my oversized closet. A brand new off white dress hangs hauntingly in the back of my closet. My father ordered it especially for the Reaping, it was a color he described as 'cream' and came down to just above my knee. On all accounts it was truly a gorgeous dress; it was spaghetti strapped with a sweetheart neckline and had lace details. I throw on the dress quickly, zipping up the back and slipping into my tan ballet flats. "Madge." I turn to see Maysilee standing beside me, a slight sad smile on her face. She walks over to my vanity, picking up the gold mockingjay pin. The pin that was once her token in her games. She gently pins it to the front of my dress, "For luck", she says with a smile gently touching my cheek. I smile back at her as I tie my hair back with a pink ribbon when I hear a knock on the door. I spin around quickly, rushing out my room and down the stairs. I hear Maysilee chuckle, clearly amused by my behavior but I pay her no attention.

I open the door to see Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthrone standing there in their hunting clothes with a basket full of strawberries. Before I can greet either of them I hear Gale say, "Pretty dress."

I glance at him, trying to see if it's a genuine compliment or if he's just being ironic. The smug look on his face suggests the latter, so I press my lips together then smile, "Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don't I?"

Gale looks confused before coolly stating, "You won't be going to the Capitol," I watch as his eyes land on the gold circular pin that adorns my dress.

"What can you have? Five entries? I had six when I was just twelve years old."

I briefly consider telling him that my aunt was reaped with only five entries but decide against it. I don't need or want his pity . "That's not her fault," Katniss say defensively. I give her a small grateful smile as Gale says, "No, it's no one's fault. Just the way it is."

I decide that that's all I can take and I close my face off. I put the money for the berries in Katniss's hand. "Good luck, Katniss."

"You, too," she says, and I close the door as they walk away. I stand there for a second, the basket of berries to clutched in my hand.

"You okay?" Maysilee asks, suddenly appearing besides me. I nod tensely, setting the berries on the table, glancing at the grandfather clock in the living room. One fifteen, less than an hour to go now. I stride over to the grand piano, sitting down on the bench. I place my hands gently on the keys and began to play. My fingers dance across the keys and I close my eyes allowing the music to soothe me. All too soon Maysilee is tapping me on the shoulder telling me its time. Before I leave I walk quickly down the hall to my mother's room, "Mom?" I call quietly opening the door. My mother lays in her bed, pale and weak her hair rests dull and frail against her cheeks. "Madge? There you are darling, I didn't think you were going to say goodbye before you leave." Its relief t see her awake, usually she is out cold on morphine, especially on the reaping day.

"Yes it me Mom." I say, sitting next to her on her bed.

She smiled, " You look lovely," her eyes watered and she grasped my hands. "Be careful Madge. Your strong and your brave and you're truly smart. You can do this honey," with a sudden wave of strength she pulls me down to her, wrapping her arms around me. "I love you Madge. I love you so much. Never forget that, promise me you won't!" She grasps my face in her hands looking me with wide eyes. "

"I p-promise." I say confused and scared. She kisses my forehead and both cheeks before releasing me. I stumble backward and leave her room in a daze. What was she talking about? I glance at myself in the mirror making sure I look alright when I see Maysilee behind me. I m suddenly struck at the resemblance how extremely similar I'm dressed to her, my gold pin shining in the soft light of the living room. "Why was she saying those things May?" I ask, my stomach sinking to the ground.

"I don't know, she's just scared for you Madge. Don't worry it'll be fine." She smiles but it doesn't reach her eyes. I'm honestly confused as I walk out the door, heading to the Reaping knowing that something was terribly wrong.

* * *

The sun beats down on my bare head as the clock strikes two. My father steps up to the podium, and begins to read the history of Panem. I zone out, fiddling with my pin. Maysilee gives my hand a gentle squeeze when my dad is introducing Effie Trinket. "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" she shrills, going on about how pleased she is to be here. Complete rubbish. Then the moment that everyone dreads as she announces, "Ladies first!" reaching into the glass bowl that has every girls name in District 12 ages twelve through eighteen. Everyone draws in a collective breath as Effie holds up the small piece of paper that has the victims name on it. She leans forward into the microphone and I swear you could hear a pin drop.

"Margaret Undersee!"

I freeze, my head spinning while everything else stands still. The girls around my back away as if I'm a leper. "Be strong. Don't think just walk. Don't let them see fear." Maysilee quickly whispers in my ear, giving me a small shove and squeezing my shoulder. I lift my head up in a daze as I walk up to the stage, trying my best to look unafraid. I meet my father's stare and my façade almost crumbles at his despair, oh dear God what is happening? I quickly climb up the stairs as Effie proudly announces how wonderful it is that this year's tribute is none other than the mayor's daughter and how proud I must feel to be chosen to represent my district. I nod in agreement although I truly feel like throwing up. I see Haymitch Abernathy looking at me bewildered quietly saying something I can't hear. I find Katniss' face in the crowd and she looks at me shocked and saddened. I see Gale next and feel a small twinge of satisfaction that for once he doesn't look smug; in fact he almost looks distressed. I search for Peeta's face and find him just as Effie introduces me as the girl tribute and the crowd gives a small round of applause. His face is ashen and it looks like he's trying not to cry. "Head up, it will help keep the tears away." Maysilee says quietly next to me, squeezing my arm trying to reassure me. I lift up my head just as Effie's talking again, something about district pride and I look out into the crowd remembering faces of people who I know and those I don't and never will. I look out at the shops and the tops of homes and the hills near the horizon trying to imprint every detail into my mind. Because the chance of me seeing any of this again is slim to none. Effie reaches over into the boys bowl and I find Peeta again, praying it's not him.

"Gale Hawthorne!'

My eyes immediately race to find Gale, striding through the crowd. He doesn't look scared, no he looks pissed. Enraged, determined. No, I'm never coming home. Finally on the stage he purposely avoids looking at me, staring into the crowd. Effie asks for any volunteers and is meet with the stark quiet that she is always meet with when she asks. My father approaches the podium and reads the Treaty of Treason, sounded more robotically than ever, his eyes never leaving me. Then, right as he finishes and Gale and I are supposed to shake hands he captures me in his arms, squeezing me quickly and tightly before letting me. He signals us to shake hands, Gale's grip is firm and solid and he drops my hand quicker than I excepted. We face the crowd as the anthem of Panem plays. Maysilee squeezes my arm again as I look at Gale out of the corner of my eye. His mouth is set in a smooth line, his expression promising destruction. No I'm never coming back.

**So what'd you think? Do you like it do you hate it please review! Anyone who reviews gets a kiss from Peeta and/or Gale ;)! Thanks guys!**


	2. Goodbyes and Train Rides

**Goodbyes and Train Rides**

**Hi guys! Thank you to all those who reviewed, followed and favorited, I love you guys! I wrote this chapter a million times so I hope you like it! Enjoy! I DON'T OWN THE HUNGER GAMES**

* * *

The Peacekeepers surround us, escorting us inside the Justice building where we will say goodbye to our I friends and family. I recognize the Peacekeepers that flank me on both sides, both of their heads are down, trying to look anywhere but my face. Probably trying to forget how on their breaks they once played tag with a lonely little girl chasing her throughout the Justice Building. I notice another Peacekeeper slightly father away from me, his ginger hair peaking out of his white helmet. He makes no attempt to look away from me, meeting my gaze with a pained look on his face. Although some of the Peacekeepers were relevantly nice to me and genuinely alright people, Darius was something that resembled a friend. I remember the day he got here, my father giving the new batch of Peacekeepers a small tour of the Justice Building. I was twelve then and I found nineteen year old Darius wondering the building trying to find his way back to the tour. I helped, laughing as he cracked joke after joke the whole way. After that the red head Peacekeeper was always swinging by the house on his breaks, having tea with me on the back porch, listening to me play piano. He was a nice man, easy going and very smart and now he's looking at me with worry and sadness. He can't even say goodbye to me during my allotted time, no Peacekeeper was allowed to.

They take me to the relevantly large room where I will be saying goodbye to my loved ones. I stare at the curtains that not two months ago I had helped my father pick out. Once the Peacekeepers close the door, shutting me into the room, I sink onto the floor trying my best not let the tears fall. I feel soft arms enclose me and lean into Maysilee, suddenly engulfed in the smell of peppermint that always clings to her. She pulls away after a moment taking my face in her hands, and I get the same tingly sensation that always happens whenever she touches my bare skin. "You knew." I don't know how I know that she knew but somehow I'm certain of it. Her small reassuring smile is al the answer I need to know that I'm right. "How long?" I ask

"A few weeks." It makes sense now, how she was always pressing me to go out of the house, to see Peeta and my visit my father at work. She knew that I only had a few more weeks to see them. A few more weeks to live.

"Did you know about Gale too?" She shakes her head and I'm oddly relieved, though I have no clue as to why.

"I'm going to die." I say it matter-of-factly trying to sound brave but I feel my body shaking.

"No you're not."

I laugh out loud at the absurdity of the statement. "There's twenty-four tribute Mays, only one comes back. You honestly think that I could win this? With my luck I'll be dead within the first day." Tears threaten to flow out of my eyes and lift my head up high trying to stop them.

"Your forgetting something Madge."

"And what is that Maysilee?" I ask trying to sound sarcastic but noticing my voice waver and crack.

She smiles slightly, "Your forgetting about me." Seeing my confusion, she continues. "Don't you see? You'll know everything before it happens, I can tell you if any tribute gets too close to where you are. I can tell you where to run, where to avoid. You'll know every trick that is up the Gamemaker's sleeve. I can even help you in training! Your coming home Madge." I stare at her trying to make sense of it all. She can help me, she can tell if I'm in danger or where to find food.

"It's possible." I say, because even with Mays help, there's stil twenty-three other tributes in there hell bent on getting home and killing anyone who gets in their way. She opens her mouth to say something but shuts it quickly.

"Your dad is almost here."She hugs me again, "I'll be back before you leave." I nod as she vanishes into the air. She does this relevantly often, leaving to go somewhere else. I never ask her where and she never tells me, although I think she often visits my mother.

The door bursts open and I stand up quickly, only to have my father swoop me into his arms. We stay like for awhile, sampling hugging each other. His suit jacket smells like spilled ink and old books, the way he always smells when he comes home from the office. I can feel the tears now as I sob into my father's jacket.

"It'll be okay Madge. It'll be okay." He says it over and over, like he once did when he was trying to assure me there were no monsters hiding under my bed. He pulls away slightly, and I stare at his face, trying to burn it into my mind. Although I most resemble my mother I see some of him in me to. I have my mother's smile but my father's dimples in my cheeks, I have my mother's dainty hands, but my father's long musical fingers. I have my father's stubbornness, his determination and I have both of my parents strength.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry. I should have been home more, I should have been there for you and your mother. I should have been a better father."

I shake my head violently, "No daddy, you're the best father I could ever ask for." He hugs me again and I can tell he's trying hard not to cry.

"Your mother couldn't come. Nora already gave her the morphling and we couldn't wake her."

"It's alright," I say, thinking back to her goodbye to me this morning and realizing that she had already given me her goodbye.

"Your brave Madge, your strong. You can do this." I know he's saying it just to make me feel better but I nod, taking it anyway. "Listen to Haymitch."

"Haymitch?" I ask in surprise. My father was not exactly the victor's biggest fan.

"Do everything he tells you to do. Please Madge." I nod again and he squeezes me tight.

"Don't let momma watch," I say grasping his coat with all my strength, " tell her I love her."

"I will." He promises as the Peacekeeper opens the door. The man stands there unsure what to do, his job usually is drag the visitor out when their time is done but he can't exactly do that to his boss.

"Um, sir? I'm sorry sir but your time is up."

My father looks at me again, memorizing my face before he kisses my forhead. "I love you Daddy." I squeak out trying my best to sound brave.

"I love you too Madge. I love you so much. Be brave darling." He gives me a quick hug before following the Peacekeeper out. The door closes, but only for a second before its thrown opens again.

Peeta rushes in, picking me up by my waist and lifting me off the ground. I wrap my arms around his neck, squeezing him tight. He starts talking fast then, talking right into my ear, "You're smart, you're brave, you're strong, you're the fastest runner I've ever seen. You can do this Madge."

"I-I-I can't Peeta. I can't do this."

He cups my face in between his hands, "Yes, you can Madge."

"You know I can't! How can I- how can you expect me to-I  
can't kill Peeta!"

There are tears in his eyes and he wipes away the tears running down my cheeks. "I know. I know. But just-just _try_ Madge! You have to promise me you'll try, that you won't give up. Try to come home Madge." He stops for a moment, looking at me, before saying "It's him isn't it?" Peeta is the only person other than Nora and Maysilee that know about my crush on Gale, and I imagine seeing those two little brothers of his and his tiny sister sobbing in grief at the loss of him.

"How will I be able to live with myself if I come home and he doesn't?" I ask Peeta looking up at his face, "If it was Katniss what would you do?" He starts, clearly surprised I brought up the Seam girl he's been in love with since kindergarten.

"I don't know. I'd help her."

"How?"

He thinks for a second before smiling at me, "I'd make a scandal."

"A what?" I ask confused at his answer.

"Look, this whole thing is for the Capitol's entertainment right? Well, than I'd entertain them. I'd make up some juicy scandal to get their attention, and there sponsorship. I'd include her in it, set the spotlight on both of us, get us both noticed." I imagine making up some scandal that included me and Gale. Then I imagine Gale throwing me off a cliff somewhere and quickly decide against it.

"I couldn't do that Peeta."

"Just think about it alright? It will help both of you out."

His face suddenly shadows and he pulls me into his arms again. "Peeta?"

"Yes?" he says, his voice muffled by hair.

"Promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Tell Katniss how you really feel."

I feel his arms tighten around me before he says, "Alright. I promise."

I sigh, feeling slightly better for some reason. After a second I admit to his shoulder, "I just-I just want to stay me, I don't want to turn into something I'm not."

"You won't, your too good for that." I smile slightly and rest my head in his shoulder, smelling the fresh bread that he made this morning. I feel the time quickly slipping by and I kiss his cheek softly. He steps back a little and he softly presses his lips on my cheek.

"Stay strong Madgie."

I smile softly at the nickname he called me when we were children when the door bangs open. The Peacekeeper comes in and I recognize him as one of the men who used to play tag with me. Peeta hugs me again.

"Goodbye, Peeta." I cry tears streaming again.

"Goodbye, Madge" he says and I see the tears beginning to roll down his face. The Peacekeeper grabs him arm leading him out the room with much less force than usual. I sit down on the plush couch, and wonder if that's it for my visitors when the door slowly opens.

Nora walks in slowly, her cheeks already wet from crying. She sits down next to me on the couch, "I always thought of you as a kind of daughter. I love you so much dear."

"I love you too Nora." I say and I fall into her arms, caught in her embrace as I have been hundreds of times before, tears falling, engulfed by the scent of lavender soap and burning wood, her smoothing my hair telling me everything is going to be alright. In the past I had believed her, truly soothed by her words. Now, I simply cling to her in fear of when I must let go.

Right before her time is up, she hands by a white paper bag. "For the trip," she says trying to give me a smile. Another Peacekeeper comes in and she hugs me once more, kissing my forehead before leaving.

After she leaves, I sit back on the sofa wondering when Maysilee's coming back; I don't like being alone right now. The door open once again and Katniss walks in, obviously here to see Gale, it looks like she's been crying and trying to hid it. We were never very close but I still consider a friend and I'm glad she came. She hugs me, an oddity for Katniss but I take it. She starts talking about building fire and shelter, finding water and after a moment I tune her out because I can't even begin to think of the Games right now. She falls silent after a moment just looking at me.

"I understand."

She looks at me utterly confused until I continue, "You don't want me to die but you still want Gale to come back." In some ways Katniss isn't very hard to follow, and by the slight red in her cheeks, the look of guilt in her face, and the fact she can't look me in the face, I'm sure I got it right on the money. "It's okay, you don't have to feel guilty about it. I understand."

She finally looks up at me, " I told him not to hurt you. He promised, but if it comes down the two of you…" she trails off looking back at her hands.

"All bets are off." I finish for her. She nods not looking at me again.

Thanks," I say smiling slightly.

"For what?"

"For eating lunch with me."

She stares at me for a second before quickly giving me another hug and kissing me on the cheek. I sure am getting allot of kisses today. The door opens to reveal another Peacekeeper and I squeeze Katniss once more before letting her go. Maybe she did think of me as a friend after all. I sit in silence thinking about all my visitors. I'm surprised honestly, I didn't think anyone other than my father and maybe Peeta would come to say goodbye. Just as I'm wondering where Maysilee is again, the door creaks open again but this time it's a Peacekeeper, pristine white suit standing in stark contrast to his ginger red hair.

"Darius." I say with a smile as he steps into the room wondering how the heck he talked his way into being able to say goodbye to me.

He pulls me into a quick embrace, "I convinced Cray to let me be the one to fetch you," he says answering my unasked question. As the truth settles down inside me, the fact that my time in District 12 is really up, I feel my eyes overflow with tears, my insides turn to liquid and my head spins in circles.

"Breathe. Just keep breathing; it'll go away in a moment just keep taking in deep breathe."Her voice purrs softly in my ears and I immediately relax slightly at her presence. " Keep your head up and if you feel like you're about to cry press this nerve on your hand." She presses down lightly in the middle of my palm of my hand that is lying lifelessly by my side, a small spasm of tingly pain shoots through my arm when she makes contact with the nerve. "It will help keep the tears away."

Darius looks down at me, and I swear there's something resembling tears in his eyes. "You ready?" he asks, giving my arm a small squeeze. No, no I'm not ready, nor will I ever be ready but since I cant say that, I give him a small nod. I look at myself quickly in the small mirror against the wall, knowing that the moment I leave this room every camera will be on either me or Gale. I fix my hair, straighten my dress and make sure that any trace of tears is gone, mostly wasting time before the inevitable. Darius comes up behind, "Madge it's time." I close my eyes, pressing down on the nerve that Maysilee just showed me and turn to face Darius.

"Okay let's go."

* * *

The cameras are blinding. I try to keep my head up, but I find myself pressing my thumb into the nerve more often then I thought necessary. Gale doesn't even look likes he's being crying, he looks, well, mad. Really mad. Like chop your head off with a spoon type of mad. This seems ironic since we're going to the Hunger Games, where everyone expects you to chop off somebody's head. We are ushered aboard the train, Maysilee following along slightly behind me and I notice Darius gently squeezing my arm as a silent goodbye right before I step inside immense train. The doors close around us, finally blocking us from the view of the flashing cameras. The train pulls out of the station at once and I see Gale fall slightly backwards at the speed. Remembering all the times my father told me about the speed of the Capitol trains, I had already braced myself and I allow myself a small smirk as I notice Gale trying in vain to cover up his little trip. Effie shows to our chambers, each one has it's a massive king size bed, a closet full of fine clothes and a bathroom complete with a running shower and a colossal tub as well as a small intercom that will grant our wish at the push of a button. Gale's eye widen and I try to imagine how it must be for him, a boy from the seam, never having a bed to yourself, a shower or even having running water much less _hot_ running water. He goes off to his own room and Effie leaves me in mine, telling me to wear anything I want but to be ready in one hour for dinner.

Once the door is closed, Maysilee sits on the bed cross-legged and it strikes me how not two hours ago she was sitting on _my_ bed, allowing me to believe that nothing was amiss. And now I'm on a train to the Capitol and my untimely demise. "I'm going to take a shower." I so badly need to clear my head and I'm hoping that a nice shower will help with that. Maysilee nods once, a small sympathetic smile on her face. She would be sympathetic, after all she was in my position 24 years ago.

I rush off to the bathroom, grabbing a big fluffy white towel from the closet. The shower is heavenly, much like the one I have back home, a small row full of buttons lining one wall. I choose strawberry scented shampoo, conditioner and body soap, the scent reminding me of home. I sigh, swiftly toweling myself off and walking to the huge closet in search of something to wear. I find a navy blue tunic and some black pants that I throw on, slipping my tan ballet flats back on. I brush my hair, deciding just to leave it down. Being overly careful, I pin my token onto the front of my tunic, not wanting to get it snagged. I glance at myself in the mirror and decide that it's as good as it's gonna get.

I walk back out to Maysilee, watching as she twists and knots a piece of string. I plop down next to her, watching her as she creates a complicated knot. We sit in silence for a moment before she hands me a piece of string too. Looking more closely at it, I realize that it's just a loose string from the heavy comforter that rests on the bed. She silently shows me how to make the same knot as hers, my fingers weaving in and out. It numbs my brain after awhile, and I keep tying and untying the knot, trying to get it just right. Satisfied with my work I hold up the string for Mays to inspect and after a moment she smiles at me content at my work. "Dinner is going to be served soon, you better get going." She says gently, as if speaking to a frightened child. Which, in a way, she is. I nod, getting off the bed and straitening my tunic I look down at her expectantly, "Are you coming?"

She shakes her head, "No, I have other business to attend to, but I'll be back before dinner is over."I must look pretty despicable because she stands and gives me a quick hug. She leaves almost at once, without even saying goodbye, leaving me standing in the middle of the room, alone and afraid. Taking a deep breath I walk out of my room and down to the dining car.

Effie seems to be the only one present and she immediately starts talking my ear off at the sight of me, saying how wonderful I am for being punctual, and punctuality is the pathway to success. I smile and nod in agreement although I'm yelling obscenities in my head. How exactly is being punctual going to get me out of the Games alive? Gale joins us soon after that and I notice how he silently determines which seat to take, the seat next to me or Effie. He finally sits down next to me and I feel a small sad amount of satisfaction that he would rather sit next to me than Effie. Of course choosing me over Effie is similar to choosing me over a hungry grizzly bear, but I try not to think about that.

"Where's Haymitch?" I ask because it feels oddly wrong to be eating without him.

"I'm here." I turn around to see him clutching his head and a pained expression on his face. Do hangovers happen that quickly? He sits down next to Effie and she scolds him for being late. In response he burps very close to her face. Effie recoils in disgust and I try my hardest not to laugh. Servers bring dish after dish to the table, and I serve myself a good portion of all of them. I've had most of the food served, most often when my father is hosting a fancy banquet, however Gale is looking incredible lost. He stares at a small bird in the middle of the table as if he's trying to decide what it is exactly.

"Its Cornish game hen, there like small chickens." I tell him, giving him a small smile. He looks down at me and I see so much anger in his eyes that I almost back away in fear. Instead I hold my ground looking back at him and I even raise an eyebrow at his questionable response to my innocent statement. He looks surprised and he finally looks away from me and back to the food. Effie congratulates us on our good behavior and showers me with praise on my refined manners and lady like etiquette. I accept the praise graciously and I even call her MsTrinket. She smiles wildly at that, telling me to please be free to call her Effie.

Half way through dinner, as I'm talking idly with Effie I hear Haymitch ask, "Hey, Maysilee can you pass the salt?" I freeze, my fork half way to my mouth and I notice him do the same, aware of his mistake. I feel Gale and Effie's confused gaze on me and Haymitch but I simply smile and hand him the salt. I spend the rest of dinner moderately quiet, staring blankly at my food and avoiding Gale's curious eyes.

After dinner we sit and watch the recaps of the Reapings, and I finally get to se my competition. Although I try to remember everyone, only a few really stand out. The slim boy from one, the monstrous boy from 2, a red-haired girl from five, a very tall and muscular boy from eleven and his tiny televe year old district partner. We are shown last and I'm very proud that I don't look afraid, Gale on the other hand is looks murderous and I vaguely wonder if he'll keep his promise not to hurt me unless it comes down to the two of us. Once the recaps have finished I see Haymitch staring at me again and I squirm slightly in my seat. Effie bids us good night and walks swiftly to her quarters, the sound of her heels clicking echoes around the train.

"Why does she have to where those blasted things?" I mutter under my breath.

"Because," Gale answers, "a she wants to make sure everyone knows she's coming." I stare at him for a moment before bursting out in laughter. I hear his laughter join mine and soon I'm doubled over, the giggles racking through my body. The joke honestly wasn't all that funny and it's probably from all the stress and the nerves but it seems that neither of us can stop. Finally we both quiet down and I look up at Gale smiling. I'm shocked to find him actually grinning at me and I feel my body stiffen as he gently brings one of his fingers up to my face to gently bush away the tears that had leaked out during our laughing fit. His face is so close to mine and I can still smell the woods on his skin.

"Ahem!" Haymitch clears his throat loudly, causing us both to jump back. "I'll best be going to bed." He gets out of his chair wobbling slightly. Both me and Gale stand up as he passes and he looks me straight in the face with a semi-smile, "Good night May." I tense up again but force myself to relax as Haymitch wanders off to his room, oblivious to his mix up.

Gale raises an eyebrow at me, silent question, and I shrug in response before starting for my room. "Good night Madge." I turn partially around to make sure I heard him right and find his back already turned to me.

"Good night Gale." I respond quietly before retreating to my room.

"Where have you been?" May is sitting on my bed again and gives me a small shrug. "Haymich called me your name." I say hoping to get something out of her, "Twice."

She just shrugs again, replying " You look allot like me." I groan, falling back on the bed. She starts to play with my hair, braiding and unbraiding small strands.

I close my eyes and remember back when I was a child and my mother used to braid my hair in pigtails, her fingers gently weaving through my hair. "May?"

"Yes?"

"Where do you go when you leave me?" It's something I was always curious about but never asked.

She pauses a second before replying, "I visit people."

"Who?"

"Just people Madge."

"Do you visit my mom?"

She pauses again, "Yes."

"And she can see you?" I turn my head to look at her and I see her nod. "Do you visit anyone else?" She says nothing and we sit there in silence as she runs her fingers through my hair.

"I'm scared May." I croak out, trying hold in the tears

"I know." She stops talking for a second, still continuing to play with my hair. "You watched the other Reapings?" it came out more as a statement than a question but I still nod in response. She quiets again before asking, "Who do you think is your biggest opponent?"

"The boy from District 2." I answer automatically.

"Why?"

I scoff, "Because he's huge."

"So?"

"So, I'm tiny!"

"You're not tiny," she says with a laugh. That's sort of true, since I always had food at my disposal I wasn't exactly skin and bones, and at five foot seven I'm pretty average height.

"It doesn't matter May," I say, my eyes still closed shut, " I have no chance. I can't fight, I can't build a fire, I can't use a weapon, I can't-"

"Okay, that's enough." She says pushing herself off the bed, walking over to the intercom on the wall."Press the button."

"Why?" I ask confused.

"Will you just do it." I look at her quizzically before getting up and doing what she asks. When I press the button a female voice answers, asking what she can do for me.

"Umm…" I look at Maysille, silently begging for assistance.

"Ask her if she could please bring a small knife to your room."

"Uh, could please bring a knife to room?" I feel like an idiot and at the girl's silence I'm almost certain I've made some dire mistake.

I glare at Mays just before the voice answers, "Certainly Miss Undersee, an attendant will arrive shortly."

"Um, thank you."

"Your very welcome, will that be all?"

"Yes, that will be it for now." I turned off the intercom, glaring at Maysilee. "Great, I wonder what the staff's going to be whispering about tonight."

Maysilee laughs, "They have gotten way worse request Madge, so don't worry." Before I could answer there was a timid knock on the door. I opened it to reveal a pretty young Capitol attendant that held a small paring knife in her hands. She smiled sweetly at me before placing the knife in my hands. "Um, thanks" I say uncertainly.

"No thanks necessary, have a nice evening Miss Undersee" I nod once before closing the door on the girl.

"Aren't they afraid I'm going to stab myself or something?" I ask in confusion.

She shakes her head, "No, there are little monitors in the walls that constantly check your heart rate, the moment your heart rate goes to fast or too slow an alarm goes off to warn the attendants." Huh, strange, but so is everything here so far.

"So what's with the knife?"

"Throw it."

"What! Why?" I ask in surprise staring at the knife in my hands.

"Because you claim that you can't use a weapon, so I'm going to teach you."

"Mays this is ridiculous! I cant throw this!"

"Why not? It's the same basic concept as throwing darts." A million memories swarm back to me of throwing darts with my father in the basement. I never missed. "You have the best aim I've ever seen."

"With darts!" I cry out, "Not knives!"

"Same concept! If you have good aim in one thing you have it in everything else." I'm almost certain that she's wrong about that but decide not to argue with her. I face the wall, holding the knife strongly in my hand. Maysilee corrects my stance, demonstrating how she wants me to throw before pointing her finger to the exact place she wants me to try to hit. I follow her instruction, aiming for the point on the wall, certain that I'm going to miss completely and cause the knife to bounce off the wall. The knife glides through the air and embeds itself into the wall. Not only did I throw it with enough force for it to stick, it is at the exact spot where I was aiming for. I stand in shock at my perfect throw as Maysilee smiles at me. "Try father away this time." I stand across the room, a significant space considering it's size and release the knife. It embeds itself in the same spot. I grin in spite of myself, feeling something resembling hope for the first time since Effie called my name. Mays smiles at me too before saying, "Again." I have the feeling that this is going to be a long night.

**Please review! Kisses for everyone :D**


	3. Up in Flames

**Hey Guys! I hope you like this chapet! Love you all 3**

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Up in Flames**_

"Wakey wakey! Time to rise and shine!" I groan loudly, throwing my arm over my head.

"Go away Mays!"

She laughs, "Come on sleepy head! Time for breakfast." I groan again, swinging of the bed. Mays had kept me up for hours, showing my different stances and ways to throw the knife until I could hit a bull's-eye a mile away with my eyes closed. I look at myself in the mirror, too lazy to change out of the white nightgown I wore to bed. My hair is messy and bedraggled but I doubt anyone other than Effie would really care about my appearance. Maysillee informs me that she was going to be gone again for most of the morning, so I was on my own till later. After saying goodbye to her, I walk down the hall to the dinning cart, the smell of bacon and eggs filling the air.

"Good morning." I yawn as I sit down next to Gale.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." I blush slightly, serving myself a generous portion of bacon, pancakes and ham. An attendant puts down a tray that has a number of steaming hot beverages. I hear Effie thank the gods before grabbing a cup of coffee, Haymitch doing the same a few moments later. Gale picks up a cup, gingerly a sip and grimaces at its bitter taste. I laugh loudly at his sour expression, handing him a different cup.

"Here, try this one. It's better." He takes the cup, eyeing me suspiciously. I take a cup for myself, and take a long luxurious sip. Not to be outdone, Gale quickly follows suit, he's eyes widening at the delicious flavor.

"What is it?" he asks taking another sip.

"Hot chocolate." I say, dunking a piece of a bread roll in the heavenly drink. I serve myself some more food, downing two more cups of hot chocolate. By the time breakfast is over, I feel like a stuffed turkey and Gale looks like he's having trouble keeping all the rich food down.

"So," I look up to see Gale glaring at Haymitch. Oh dear. "You're supposed to give us advice?" Gale's voice is tense and irritated and I worry a little about Haymitch's safety.

"You want advice? Stay alive." He laughs loudly and I meet Gale's gaze. Quicker than I thought possible, Gale throws his balled fist at Haymitch's face, but the older man quickly ducks out of the way, grabbing Gale in a headlock.

I stand, almost knocking my chair out from under me. "Haymitch! Put him down!" He looks at me for a moment before dropping Gale onto the ground.

"Go stand over by the wall. Both of you, now!" I help Gale up and we both stand by the wall. Haymitch circles us both, checking faces and muscles. He spends than a minute checking out Gale before proceed to me. He takes his time with me checking my reflexes and arm muscles. "Alright," he says standing in front of us scowling, "Here's the deal. You do what I say when I said it no questions asked, got it?" I nod but Gale glares at him.

"You sure you're going to be sober enough to give us any good advice?"

Haymitch looks ready to punch him but instead coolly states, "I'm staying sober for these Games. Not a drop of liquor in me."

This takes both of us by surprise and Gale icingly asks, "What's the occasion?"

Haymitch looks me right in the face, a pained expression falling over his eyes, "No occasion. Just a favor for an old friend." Gale opens his mouth to speak again but Haymitch cuts him off, "No more questions. The train about to pull into the Capitol and when it does you'll meet with your prep team. You're not going to like the things they do to you but don't resist and don't complain," he looks directly at Gale and I see the younger man roll his eyes. Haymitch continues, "after that you're going to meet with your stylist. I don't know who they have this year and honestly I don't care. Wear whatever the hell they want to put you in without complaint, these guys know more about what the Capitol believes to be fashion then you do. Got it?" We both nod as Effie's shrill cry cuts through the room.

"Children! We're here!" We can't help it, both me and Gale run over to the window to see what we've only seen on television. The Capitol. People dressed in oddly colored clothes and brightly colored hair chase after the train, yelling and waving. I grin widely, waving back at them. As soon as they are out of sight I notice Gale glaring at me.

"What? One of them could be rich and wanting to sponsor us." It seems that this was not the appropriate response because he marches to his room slamming the door loudly.

"You know you're right though. Playing nice with these people is the only way to get any sponsors whatsoever." Haymitch says and I smile a little.

"Try telling him that." He grunts in response telling me I should get dressed. I nod, disappearing into my room, hoping that Mays will be back already.

Apparently I had been hoping in vain because there is a definite lack of ghostly aunts when I walk into the room. I sigh, deciding that I better just follow Haymitch's advice and get dressed. I decide against a shower, knowing that my prep team is probably going to scrub me down anyway and search the closet for something to wear. I find a pretty silvery blue sundress that I slip on and pin the mockingjay pin on the front of. Giving myself a glance over in the mirror, tying my hair back with a ribbon before I decide that I'm decent enough and walk out of the room, closing the door for what very well could be the last time.

* * *

"Oh look at her fingernails!" Octavia, a plump woman whose entire body is dyed a pea green hold up my left hand. Venia, a woman with aqua hair and gold tattoos on her forehead makes a noise resembling a wounded animal.

"There gorgeous!"She cries out, turning to smile at me, "The tributes we get usually have their nails bitten down to stubs." I smile and bite my tongue so I don't tell her that nail biting is a nervous habit, often brought on my some intense situation, such as having to fight twenty-three other tributes in less than two weeks.

Instead I give her my best, mayor's daughter smile and thank her for her compliment. "You're doing fantastic!" says a man named Flavius, who is constantly tracing his lips with dark purple lipstick, "The thing we hate the most is a whiner."

"And you're hardly any work at all!" Venia says, patting my shoulder. It's true that this is taking much shorter time than I thought it would, some tributes have been known to spend upwards of four hours in the Remake Center, whereas I have only been her for about an hour and a half and they are almost done with me. And it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. They waxed my legs and arms as I expected, but it didn't take very long since I just had them waxed two days before the Reaping. My eyebrows were already perfectly plucked, my skin needed little scrubbing since it had hardly any grime on me.

"You're practically flawless!" Flavius says, lotioning my arms. "You make our job so easy!"

I smile graciously, "Well, my father always made sure I was well groomed, I had an image to uphold after all." It's vaguely true, although many of the town girls wax their legs and pluck their eyebrows, the seam girls were the only ones who really didn't. Still, they eat up my words, gushing about how exciting it is to have a daughter of a public official in the Games.

"If only all our tributes could be mayor's daughters! Our job would be so effortless!" They all laugh and I try to smile, but it feels forced even to me.

Venia removes the ribbon from my hair and letting it fall down in waves."Oh! Look at her _hair_!"She squeals from behind my head. I try not to flinch as Octavia and Flavius examine bits of my hair. They're talking fast and I only catch a few words. Stunning, striking, dazzling, gorgeous. They go on about my hair for another half an hour, as they cloak it with creams, foams and sprays.

"It's just so _gold_!" Octavia states, twisting a strand in between her fingers.

"That's it! I'm going blonde ladies!"Flavius announces, making the Capitol woman laugh in delight. They make me stand then, removing the thin silk robe that I've been allowed to wear on and off for the last two hours. They circle around me, trying to see if they missed anything. Even though they are so very different from people back home, I still feel an immense level of discomfiture and embarrassment at their scrutiny. When I pass their inspection, Flavius clasps his hands together, "Well, I think we're done here! Let's call Cinna!" They run out of the room, to call Cinna, who I assume to be my stylist, and I'm oddly reminded of school children running home after school. It must be their absolute ignorance that makes them seem so childlike, however I can't hate them, I know in their own stupid way they really are trying to help me.

I haven't had the chance to look at my remade self yet so I hesitantly turn toward the full length mirror in the front of the room. I'm relieved to find that I still look like me, a little more dolled up, but still me. I hastingly retrieve my robe, knowing that I'm going to be ordered to take it off when Cinna get here but seeking some small amount of privacy for the time being. Maysilee still has not returned since I saw her on the train and wish that she would come back soon, I don't like being alone with these Capitol people, even if I'm slightly more used to being around them since we often had Capitol visitors in my home. The doors open and I straighten as a young man who must be Cinna walks in. I'm surprised at how normal he looks, no tattoos or grotesque surgically alterations, just natural pale skin and brown hair, the only thing slightly Capitol about him is the thin line of metallic gold eyeliner that had been applied along the line of his lashes and I can't help but notice how it brings out the gold flecks in his green eyes.

"Hello, you must be Margaret. I'm Cinna, your stylist." He smiles warmly at me and I give a small genuine smile back.

"Hello, Cinna, please call me Madge. It's what everyone calls me. "I say, blushing slightly for no apparent reason. He smiles at me again before politely asking me to remove my robe for a moment. I was expecting as much but I still cringe inwardly as I peel off the thin layer of protection that it affords me. He gives me a sympathetic look before walking around me, he doesn't touch me but he takes in every inch of my body. "You're new aren't you?" I'm practically certain of it, having never seen him before at any of the previous Games.

"Yes, this is my first year in the Games."

"So you got stuck with District Twelve?" I try to make my voice sound sympathetic but it comes out more bitter than I expected. Many people look down on district Twelve, Capitol citizens and citizens of other districts as well, and having seen my father for years try to strength our districts reputation, try to unite the people in our district only to constantly have it belittled by everyone makes it a sore topic. I know that District Twelve is a far cry from a paradise but it's my home, and my father works day and night to try to make it as bearable as possible, getting the most lenient Peacekeepers, giving extra coins to the anyone who needs them. It is not Effie's crooked idea of district pride, it's more essential then that. It's my home.

I raise my head up, daring Cinna to contradict me. "Actually", he says his voice soft and understanding, "I asked for District Twelve."

I blush scarlet, "I-I sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No apology necessary," he says with a smile, "I understand. You're the mayor's daughter aren't you?" I nod and he pats my hand, "Then your district must be very important to you. And believe me, I think you're going to like my idea on how you're going to represent your district for the opening ceremonies." he winks at me and I smile back at him. "Why don't you put on your robe and we can have a little chat?" I nod again, grabbing my robe and tying it tightly around my waist. "It's a little early for lunch I didn't think the prep team would be done that soon with you. If you're hungry we can grab a snack."

"I'm not really hungry, I had a big breakfast." He nods before leading me out of the room and down a long corridor. "There's halls are so stuffy, it's like I can barely breathe." I tell him, though I'm sure it's more of the fact that I know my every move is being watched.

Cinna looks like he's thinking for a moment before smiling at me. "I think you need some fresh air. Come with me." He starts walking quicker and I look at him curiously before following after him. He takes me through a few more hallways, before I find myself in a narrow staircase. I climb up after him and after a moment find myself in a small dome-shaped room with a door that leads outside. We step out onto the roof and I gasp as I look at the amazing view. There's a gust of wind and I close my eyes as it blows through my hair.

"You have beautiful hair Madge."

I laugh, "That's what my prep team said, they talked about it for half an hour. Does no one have blonde hair here?"

Cinna laughs, "Blonde? You call your hair _blonde_? Blonde is yellow, yours is golden. And no very little people have hair like yours, though I suspect many try to dye it that way." I smile at him, back home my hair was just another reason for the seam kids to hate me. Here it's considered beautiful.

"I didn't know that we could go on the roof, aren't they afraid something will, um, you know, happen to the tributes up here?" Cinna shakes his head.

"There's a force field from preventing that." He holds his hand up to the edge of the roof and I hear a sharp zap. "It'll throw anybody back that tries to jump."

I nod mutely, allowing myself to breathe since I got off the train this morning. Another gust of wind comes and I stand on my tip toes, trying to catch as much fresh air as I can get. "I'm sorry about the wind, it gets pretty windy up here, it's even worse at night." I stare at him for a second, trying to see if he means that they can't hear us from up here.

"Can they hear us?" I ask lowly, my voice hardly above a whisper.

"No, they don't have cameras or anything up here. Why bother with the wind being so loud that they wouldn't be able to see or hear anything?"

I close my eyes, relaxing slightly with the knowledge that this is the one place that they can't see me. He waits a moment before saying, "You know, there's a staircase that leads to the roof in the Training Center too, so if feel like you need fresh air while you're staying there you know where you can go."

I smile, thanking him for this showing me this place. I don't know how long Cinna lets me stand there, but all too soon he's telling me that it's time to go back. Sighing I follow him back down the stairs and into the dining hall where we will be having lunch. "Do you mind having lunch with your district partner and Portia, his stylist? We can have it by ourselves if you prefer?"

I shake my head, "No, that's fine."

"Great, will you wait here for just a moment?" I nod and he quickly exits the room leaving my alone at the table.

"Mays?" I whisper to the air, hoping that she will appear in front of me. She doesn't and I slump back into my chair in defeat. She said she'll be back later, but how much later is later? I'm snapped out of my self-pity by loud stomping that can only be Gale's. I stand as he enters the room, muttering about something. His hair is slick and cut shorter than it was, his skin actually looks soft instead of hard like it usually does, his face is free of any facial hair, even his eyebrows are trimmed to perfection. A small giggle escapes my mouth and before I can stop myself I'm laughing hard. Gale stops as if just noticing me and his eyes widen at my extremely polished self.

His face quickly falls into its usual glare, "What's so funny Undersee?" I bite my tongue to stop the laughter but I'm still smiling when I respond.

"So I see you survived the torture?"

To my absolute amazement he actually smirks at me. "Barley," he comes closer to me before leaning down and whispering, "they actually waxed my _chest." _

I giggle again before whispering back, "You think that's bad? They waxed my _arms_."We stare at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter again. Every time we stop laughing, we look at each other and begin again in our laughing fit. Finally, when our sides are aching we stop and just grin at each other like fools.

Gale gently grabs a strand of my hair, "I didn't think your hair could get any shiner Undersee."

I smile back at him, "Well your make-over didn't go too bad either Hawthorne."He actually grins at me then just as a woman's voice echoes across the room.

"Now that's a sight for sore eyes! Gale Hawthorne actually_ smiling_!" A woman who must be Portia walks into the room, Cinna trailing behind her.

Gale's eyes tighten, "Watch it Portia, I've about had it with you guys. If I see even one more pair of tweezers, it's over." I can tell by his voice that he doesn't even mean it. Despite his hatred for all things Capitol, he doesn't appear to openly hate this woman.

Still, I elbow him in the ribs, "Be nice, they're trying to help."

Portia smiles at me, "You must be Margaret-"

"Madge." Gale cuts her off, sounding oddly defensive, "She doesn't go by Margaret." Portia winks at me for some reason, before apologizing for her error and introducing herself. Cinna introduces himself to Gale and then tells us all to sit. Gale silently takes the seat next to me and I try to hold back my smile. Once we are all seated, Cinna pushes a button on the side of the table, which instantly splits open the table top to reveal a second table top rising up that hold our lunch. I stare at the food in front of us, chicken and oranges cooked in creamy sauce with white grain of some sort, peas and onions laid out next it, bread rolls shaped like flowers and a pudding the color of honey for desert. It's a grand feast and suddenly I'm angry. Back home food is scarce and dozens of dozens of children go to bed hungry. Here getting food is a simple push of the button. I remember all the times that we've had Capitol guests staying at my home, how they would turn their noses up at the food that Nora and I spent hours preparing. Even being from the richest family in the district, never having to endure real hunger, with food always available, I'm still overcome with rage and I can only imagine how someone like Gale would feel. Gale. I turn my head towards him and see a similar expression of anger and hatred on his face. He meets my gaze and without thinking I squeeze his hand under the table. He looks surprised but gently returns my gesture, squeezing my hand softly. "How despicable we must see to you." I turn my head and see Cinna wearing an apologetic smile, Portia having a similar remorse on her face.

It's silent for a moment before Portia smiles and says, "So about your outfits for the opening ceremony. Our current thought is to dress you both in complimentary costumes." I stiffen as I wait for Gale to object but he stays silent.

"As you both know it's customary for the outfits to reflect the flavor of the district" Cinna states. Being a tribute from District Twelve, where our many export is coal, usually means that the tributes are dressed in some tacky form of the mining jumpsuit our miners wear while working in the mines. Since the baggy jumpsuits aren't very fashionable, the stylist usually put our tributes in skimpy versions of a mining outfit. One year our tributes were stark naked and covered in black dust to represent coal dust. I try not to flinch at the idea of my naked body being displayed around the Capitol on nation television.

"So we'll be in miner's uniforms?" I ask trying not to sound worried and hoping that it won't be too provocative.

"Actually," Portia starts, "We think the whole miner's thing has been done to death."

"No one will remember you in that. And it's our job to make you both as memorable as possible." Cinna smiles but I cringe.

_Great, no way we won't be naked_, I think.

"So rather than focusing on the _mining_ we're going to focusing on the coal." Portia says.

_Naked and covered in dust,_ I think, silently hoping that my father won't have a heart attack.

"And what do you do with coal?" Cinna asks, obviously excited about the answer.

_You cover it up with lots and lots of layers of clothing?_

"You burn it." Portia answers, with a devious smirk

"You two aren't afraid of fire are you?" I look at Gale at the precise moment he looks at me. The stylists smile at our expressions.

_Okay maybe naked isn't so bad._

* * *

Hours later I'm dressed in a simple black unitard that covers me from ankle to neck with shiny boots that lace up to my knees. That would be enough for me, but no Cinna had to add a fluttering cape made of orange, yellow and red streamers and a matching headpiece. Which he plans on lighting on fire. When I told him I burn very easily he laughed and told me not to worry, it's not real flames, just something that he and Portia came up with. My face is relevantly free of makeup and I look oddly like myself, something I did not expect.

"I want them to recognize you when you're in the arena." He said when I asked about the lack of makeup. "Madge, the girl on fire." I wonder if underneath that nice guy exterior hides a real madman. "Now, how do you usually do your hair?"

"Umm, I usually leave it down, or tied back with a ribbon but that won't be very practical while in the arena." Leaving long hair can be dangerous in the arena, often snagging on things, getting into your face when you're running or fighting someone. "I guess while I'm in there I'll just wear it in a braid."

Cinna runs his fingers through my hair for a second, before he says, "Well, why don't we put it half braided and half down for now? A compromise to the Madge from District Twelve and the Madge in the arena." He means of course, the Madge that is fighting for her life, but he's too nice to say that. I nod in compliance and he loosely braids the top half of my hair, letting the rest hang down in my natural waves. After fixing a couple of strands to frame my face and adjusting my head piece he announces that his work is done and tells me to stay put for a moment while he fetches Portia and Gale.

Alone, I call out to Maysilee again, "Mays? Maysilee? You coming or what!" I yell in annoyance, looking at myself in the mirror. I can't do this alone, not now. "Mays please!"

"Madge." I spin around to find her standing next to me, an apologetic smile on her face. I should be mad, she abandoned me for almost the whole day, but instead I fall into her arms. "Now, now, don't get all your pretty makeup all smudged.

"Where were you? You were gone forever."

"I'm sorry. I, well I was visiting someone. Your mother." I stare at her for a moment before shooting off questions at her.

"Is alright? Was she awake? Does she know I'm gone? Is she taking her medicine? Is she overdoing her medicine? You told her I love her right?"

"Wow, one at a time! Yes she was awake and she's doing as well as can be expected. I told her you love her and I'm sorry it took so long; I didn't want to leave her until your father came home." I nod, understanding how she felt. "Well, look at you," she says smiling at me, "I knew that Cinna was an artist, much better than the one me and Haymitch got stuck with. You're going to be amazing."

"I'm going to be a human torch!" I cry out laughing slightly.

She grins before looking at the door, "Cinna's almost here. Don't worry, I'll be watching you the entire time." I smile gratefully at her just as Cinna opens the door telling me it's time to go. We leave then and I get my first chance to see Gale in his matching costume. He looks fantastic, cape and all. He's looking at me oddly and I quicken my pace. Once we're in the elevator, we're sent down to bottom level of the remake center and loaded onto our chariots that are pulled by a team of four horses. Cinna and Portia arrange our body positions, headpieces, hair and capes. Gale stays surprisingly silent during the whole process and soon Portia and Cinna back away to consult on another. I see Maysilee standing next to our horses, gently petting their manes.

"I don't know if I like this whole fire thing." Gale says, looking straight ahead and I wonder if he was talking to himself or to me.

"I pull your cape off, you pull my head dress off?"

He smirks, "Deal."

I smile in return and open my mouth to say something when I hear someone yell out, " Hey, Twelve?" I turn around to see the giant boy from District Two, grinning at me. Out of the corner of my eye I see Mays stiffen as the boy approaches me, looking worried and distressed.

Trying not to show my nerves I coolly respond, "Hey Two."

His grin widens, until he's more showing his teeth than smiling. "Cute costume. Pity though, I was looking forward to seeing a skimpy miners get up, I mean why hide so much under that unitard? The more skin the better right?" He winks at me and I blush at his obscene comment.

"Sorry to disappoint." I reply, hoping he'll go away. It's weird seeing him talking to me when all the other tributes seem you be glued to their chariots.

"No need to disappoint, I can always take a rain check."

"In your dreams, Two." Gale snarls at him, pulling me closer to him as if he's trying to hide me from the boy. The boy smirks at Gale before walking back to his chariot, waving at me. I cringe as I find Maysilee looking at me in concern.

"Well, that was creepy." I say trying to laugh it off, "At least it got my mind off of the fires.

"Where the hell is Haymitch? Isn't he supposed to protect us from crap like this?" I'm about to ask him if he's talking about the flaming capes or the boy from Two when the music starts. I freeze, suddenly terrified when I hear Maysilee's gently voice in my ear.

"It'll be fine. They'll all love you, trust me. This is the easy part." And of course she's right, this is the easy part, being paraded around the city, the hard part comes later, when your running for your life and fighting to get home. The chariots start to pull into the city, first District 1, followed by District 2 and 3 and so on. The time goes by quickly and in no time, District 11 is pulling up to the doors and Cinna comes out to us with a lighted torch in his hands.

"Here it goes, "he says, not very encouragingly. I close my eyes as he sets our capes on fire, waiting for the pain, but instead only feel a tingling sensation similar to when Maysilee touches me. He hops onto the chariot, lighting our headdresses as well. "It works," he sighs in relief, "Heads up high, smile, they're going to love you." He jumps down but turns back to us, yelling something out but the music makes it impossible to hear him. He yells again and begins to gesture.

"What is he saying?"Gale asks, looking at Cinna.

"He's telling you to hold hands." Mays says helpfully.

"I think he's saying hold hands," I tell him. Gale grabs my hand and holds it up for Cinna to see. Cinna smiles, giving us a thumbs up. I look at Gale right as he looks at me and I'm taken back how amazing he looks. Gale's eyes widen as he looks at me, which probably means I look pretty good too. Mayislee's standing next to Cinna and I see her smiling at me proudly, and for the first time I'm reminded of a younger version of my mother. I see her blow me a kiss and that's the last thing I see before we enter the city.

The city is packed with people screaming and chanting and after their initial shock at our fiery self's they're in a frenzy. Chants of "District Twelve" ring across the city. I raise my head up high and throw on the fake smile that I save for the special occasions where I have to pretend that I love the Capitol, where I'm nothing more than a mayor's daughter. I wave to them as I hear them chant my name, "Madge! Madge! Madge!"over and over again. I'm glad Haymitch asked Effie to make sure that my name in the pamphlet for the opening ceremonies said my nickname not my full name. Because today I am Madge, the girl on fire. I blow kisses to the crowd and people jump up and down trying to catch it as if it were a real thing. Ì catch a glimpse of ourselves in the huge television screen and am taking back our beauty. We look stunning. I notice that the way the wind rips through my hair and how the light from the fire reflects off it makes it look like my hair glowing and illuminating my face. As I look at the screen I realize that while I' have been waving and smiling at the crowd, Gale has stood stiffly at my side. His grip on my hand as gone reasonably slack, a stark difference from when the ceremony started, both of us grasping on to one another and I look up to see him staring at the crowd expressionless. I try giving his hand a small squeeze again but this time he does not return it. By the time we reach the president's mansion, he's barley holding my hand at all. President Snow arrives on his balcony and gives us the ceremonial welcoming speech. I watch the screen as the camera cuts to all the faces of the tributes, although we are getting more than our share of air time. The anthem plays the chariots circle one last time before heading into the Training Center.

The doors shut behind us and we're engulfed by the prep teams who babble on and on about how dazzling we were. I see Mays off to the side smiling gently at me. As soon as we are off the chariot and de-flamed by Portia and Cinna Gale tosses my hand to the side angrily, stopping away. The prep teams don't notice his absence but Portia and Cinna look at my confused. I follow him quietly, running the way we went. I find him standing by the elevators, angrily muttering to himself. "Okay Gale, what I do now?"

He looks at me infuriated before snarling, "What the hell do you think you were doing out there? Waving to those idiots, blowing them kisses!"

I'm startled at his anger but I calmly state, "Gale how do you expect to get sponsors if you're not going to play along with all of this? You know you need sponsors if even have a chance at winnin-"

"You think you have a chance of winning?!"He yells at face, "You? Little Princess Undersee who never worked a day in her life? You have nothing! You're absolutely _useless_! You wont last a god damn day!" Before I can think better of it my fist is flying at his nose, with all the force I possess. He stumbles backward, holding his nose as it gushes blood. I feel people's eyes watching us, and I know I should be worried about this, it's illegal to fight other tributes before we get in the arena. Gale glares at me, fury and hatred in his eyes. "You won't last ten minutes in the arena. Why don't you do yourself a favor and step of the plate earl-" Suddenly, Gale's being smacked against the wall by Haymitch, grabbing him by both sides of his collar.

"Don't you _ever_ say that to that girl again! Don't you ever say anything like that to that girl or so help me…" I walk off as Haymitch spurs a list of threats to Gale, my eyes burning with tears I know I can't shed here.

"Effie's standing by the elevator on your left, she'll take you to your quarters."Maysilee tells me softly. I nod in silent response as I go to Effie. By the look on her face I can tell she heard and saw everything that happened. She leads m the glass elevator and press the button that reads twelve.

"It's the penthouse," she tells me sweetly trying to get my mind off of what happened.

"Do you think I'm going to get in trouble for that?"I ask her because I have to know what I'm in for. She shakes her head.

"No dear you won't get on trouble. Hardly anyone saw, plus, "she waits for a moment before saying, "he deserved it."

"Darn tooting he did!"Maysilee laughs out from behind me. I smile at both of them trying to cheer me up. Once we get to our floor, Effie shows me my quarters, nearly three times the size as my room on the train with do many buttons that I doubt I'll have time to press them all. Effie leaves me then, telling me she'll call me when dinners ready.

I throw off my cape and headdress before falling back onto my bed, Maysilee sitting down next to me. I close my eyes as she runs her fingers through my hair, humming softly. I let the tears roll down my face now, and soon I find myself soothed by Mays tune, allowing myself to escape my reality as I drift to sleep.

**So what'd ya think? Love it/hate it ? Please review! Pretty please with whipped cream on top! Remember all reviewers get a kiss from Peeta and/or Gale! Sorry I made Gale a punk in this chapter but come on he's ****_Gale_**** it was bound to happen. Alright next chapter up soon. Love you guys :D**


	4. Knives and Bulls-Eyes

**Hi guys! Thank you to everyone who reveiewed/followed/favorited! I hope you like the chapter! I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES! If I did Madge, Finnick and Prim would be alive and Katniss would have loved Peeta from the first page :D**

**_Chapter 4 _**

I wake up to Effie knocking on me door telling me it's time for supper. I groan, rolling on to my side. "Come on Madge, you don't want to miss dinner," Maysilee says, gently rubbing my back like my mother used to do when I was a kid. I groan again.

"Do I have to?"

"Yup. Come on." I heave myself off the bed, glancing at my reflection in the mirror. The small amount of make-up I did have on is now smeared all over my face, my hair is tangled and messy and my eyes are red and puffy from crying. Sighing, I strip out of my costume, neatly folding it and putting it on the bed. Since I don't have time for a shower, I was my face and comb my hair, tying it back with a ribbon so it won't be so messy. I grab the first thing I find in my closet, resulting in me wearing a loose long sleeve flannel shirt and denim shorts. My feet are aching from walking around in the tight uncomfortable leather boots so I decide just to go barefoot.

"Mays?"

"Yeah?"

I pause for a moment, looking at her, "Could you come with me to dinner?" Since coming here I've noticed that she's almost never around me when I'm around the others and although I think I understand why, I still need her today. "Please Mays? I-I don't want to be alone when I see Gale."

"You won't be alone," she says softly, "Effie will be there. And Cinna, Portia, Haymitch." Her voice wavers on the last name and I know my hunch is right. She doesn't like being around me when I'm around Haymitch.

"Why don't you want to be around Haymtich?"

She sighs, looking at the floor, "It's not that I don't want to be around him. It's, well, it's complicated." She stops, looking back at me, "But if you really want me to, I'll go." She gives me a small smile and I return it, thanking her and giving her a quick embrace. "Well, let's go than. You looked starved."

I'm not even remotely hungry but I still lead the way to the dining hall. Everyone is already present, Haymitch sitting at the head of the table, Cinna and his right and Portia on his left. Effie is sitting next to Cinna, chatting away about our fiery début and Gale is sitting next to Portia, his face expressionless. I sit down next to Effie without hesitation and out of the corner of my eye I see Gale's face fall slightly at my seating choice. Anger rages through me, what right does he have to be upset that I didn't sit with him? After what he just said to me! I feel Maysilee squeezing my shoulder, sitting down on in the chair next to me."Calm down Madge, its ok." She says, softly rubbing my arm. I give a tiny nod, the only response I can give her right now. The servers come then, putting dish after dish on the table. I serve myself a helping of everything on the table, suddenly starving now that I see all the delicious food. I chat mildly with Cinna, Portia and Effie, carefully avoiding Gale's gaze. Effie does most of the talking while the rest of us add a comment here or there. Maysilee stays quiet the whole time, every time I sneak a glance at her I see her staring off into space. Still, I'm glad she's here. Half way through the meal I notice Haymitch staring at me, every few seconds looking up at me. No, not looking at me, _next_ to me. Maysilee. I try to see her out of my peripheral vision and notice how stiff she is, remaining perfectly still. I finish the rest of the meal quickly, hoping to excuse myself early. My hopes are quickly dismissed when Effie tells us we are to watch the recap of the opening ceremonies.

We all file into the room with a huge television mounted on the wall. In the room is one long sofa and two plush chairs sitting in the corner. Haymitch plops down onto one of the chairs, and Effie sits in the other. Cinna and Portia sit next to each other on the right side of the couch and Gale sits next to Portia again. I weigh my options, one sit on the coach next to Gale or two, sit on the floor and risk Effie's lecture on lady like behavior. I decide that at the moment, I'd much rather hear it from Effie than be even in the same general vicinity as Gale. I sit down, cross legged, on the carpeted floor, Mays sitting down next to me. Technically, I'm sitting beneath the empty spot on the couch and Cinna politely tells me that there's no need to sit n the floor, they'll make room for me on the sofa. I swiftly object, saying that I'm quite alright where I am. Luckily, the program begins before anybody else can make an objection to my sitting arrangements. The parade itself was only about twenty minutes, but the commenter's stretch it out to be about an hour long. I quickly lose interest and sneak a look at Gale. His face is stony and cold, and somehow or another it still manages to make my heart skip a beat. I remember when I first developed a crush on the Seam boy, it was when I was seven year old. It was after school and two boys from the Seam were picking on me. Usually I walked home with Peeta but he had a cold and was absent from school. The boys followed me as I walked towards Town, calling me names. I ignored them like my father had taught me too, knowing that they would never have been picking on me if Peeta were here. I walked faster and one of the boys yanked on my ponytail hard. I fell backwards and the boys laughed at me, grabbing my backpack and emptying its contents onto the street. I cried out, begging for the boys to stop. Once they realized there was nothing of value in my bag they turned back to me, one of them pushing me into a wall, the other one slapped me smartly across the face. I began to cry and that made them laugh harder as they kept pushing me and hitting me. I screamed out for Peeta and my father, even though I knew they couldn't hear my cries. Suddenly the boys were being thrown off of me and for a moment I thought it was my father come to rescue me. Then I saw the boy, he looked older than me, much taller and his face was a mask of rage.

One of the boys that had been attacking me whimpered, "What's your problem Gale?"

Gale grabbed the boy by his collar, lifting him off the ground, "I find you two hitting a _girl_ and you ask me what my problem is!"

The boy still on the sniveled, "But she's one of them Gale! She's a Townie!"

"She's a girl!" He threw the boy he was holding up on the ground next to his friend, both of them looking up at him in fear. "I don't care if she's from the Town or from the Seam or from the Capitol itself! "

"But she's the mayor daughter Gale! She deserved it!"

Gale cocked his arm back as if to hit the boy, "You two get your scrawny asses out of here now! And if I ever see either of you hitting a girl again, I'm going kick your ass so bad that your _mother's_ won't be able to recognize your ugly faces!" The boys scrabbled away from Gale, running towards the Seam. Gale watched them leave before turning back to me. "You okay?" I didn't answer, tears still running down my face and my cheek was stinging from where the boy hit me. He stooped down next to me and I cowered away from him, putting my arms up to guard off any punches. He gently pulled my arms away from my face, grabbing my chin and tilting my face towards his. He looked about two years older than me, his black hair and grey eyes marking him as a boy from the Seam. He smiled gently at me, displaying a row of straight white teeth, "What's your name?"

"Madge." I said sniffling. "What's yours?"  
"Gale Hawthorne." He said with a smile.

"Thank you for saving me from those boys," my eyes welled up with tears again, "they were really mean."

Gale nodded, "Don't worry about it." He wiped away the tears from my cheeks and I whimpered as his thumb brushed against the spot where the boy struck me. He titled my face to left to inspect my red cheek, muttering something about them being in huge trouble with their mothers. "They got you pretty bad huh?" I nodded mutely, gazing into this strange boy's eyes. "How old are you?"

"Seven and two quarters, how old are you?"

"Nine and a half." He frowned a little, "Do you always walk home alone? That's not safe."

I shake my head, "No, I walk home with my friend Peeta." And my Aunt May but she told me not to tell other people about her.

"I heard you call his name, where is he?"

"He's at home. He has a cold." Gale was still frowning at me, I didn't like it, I wish he would smile again. He had a nice smile. I looked over to where the boys had dumped out everything from my bag and cringed. It was a huge mess, I scooted away from Gale and started piling all my things back into my bag.

"Here." I looked up to see Gale handing me a stack of papers and crayons. I smiled, taking the things and putting them in my backpack. Gale kneeled down next to me, helping me collect all my things. After everything was back in my backpack he helped me off the floor and handed me by bag.

"Thank you Gale," I said with a smile, staring down at my shoes.

"No problem Madge. Let me walk you home."

"You don't have to do that." I said blushing.

"It's okay, I want to." I looked up shyly into Gale's smiling friendly face and smiled nodding okay. We walked very close together, holding hands as I asked him about his family and he told about his mom and dad, how his mom was a laundress and his dad worked in the mines and how he always comes home late. I told him how my dad comes home late allot too. I tell him my favorite food is strawberries and he tells me how his little brother eats blueberries nonstop. It's a friendly conversation, one of those conversations that only little kids can have, talking about everything and talking about nothing at all. Too soon, we're at my house and I watch Gale's shocked expression as he sees my house.

"Do you wanna come in? We have cookies." I said with a smile, hoping he'd say yes.

He shakes his head, "Sorry I have to get home, my mom will be worried."

"My mother never worries." I tell him.

He smiles, "All mother's worry."

"Nope, not mine. She just sleeps allot, as long as she takes her medicine that is." His expression falls a little at that.

"Is she sick?"

"Yeah, she has a cold too. But my daddy says she'll be better soon. She's had a cold for a _long_ time!" Gale's smile returns, but I can tell it's half hearted. "Thanks again Gale."

"My pleasure." He says smiling before kissing my forehead and running off my porch and down the street. My mouth hangs open and my cheeks turn red as I go inside my house, thinking about it felt so different from when my mom and dad kiss my forehead. Later that evening Maysilee apologized a million time, claiming that the incident was her fault and she was sorry that one of her visits took longer than expected. I kept telling her I wasn't mad, quite the opposite actually, and I kept thinking about Gale Hawthorne's lips against my forehead and how I couldn't wait to see him again.

"Oh! You look fantabulous!" Effie shrieks, jerking me back to the present. I look at the television and see me and Gale enter the streets, the crowd going wild. Me, smiling and waving to them all, blowing kisses and Gale looking stiff and expressionless by my side. I think back to that day, how hard I fell for the little boy that saved me. I didn't see him for a few weeks, and when I waved at him, he waved back smiling. We didn't talk again though, small waves in the hall or pleasant nods in the streets was all. Until the day the mines exploded. I remember my father hunched over his desk, a look of defeat on his face as the death count rose. I remember standing next to him at the ceremony, him reading off the names of the dead, giving the medal of honor to the first born of the dead's family. I remember seeing Gale, suddenly too wise for his years, standing there as he received his medal, his expression hard as stone. He never waved after that, refused to acknowledge my presence. Later he began to bring strawberries with Katniss to my house, and I wondered if it was because he remembered that I told him I liked them all those years ago. I watch Gale and me as we ride through the Circle City, and I think how most girls would have given up on the school girl crush of mine, how must would have stopped caring by now. But I don't, even as my eyes still sting from crying at his harsh words from earlier, I can still feel his hand in mine as we walked down the streets to my house, the same feeling as when we held each other steady on the chariots.

The recap ends and I give my thanks and praise to Cinna and Portia for an amazing job, saying good night to Effie and Haymitch before walking down the hall to my room. Once alone I plop down on my bed with a sigh. I feel May sit down next to me, gently running her fingers through my hair humming lightly. "What was all that with Haymitch at dinner?" She shrugs, continuing with her humming, "It was almost like he knew you were there."

"Now here is was thinking that you would be more worried about the start of training tomorrow than Haymitch."

"Ugh don't remind me." She smiles a little before hoping off the bed and gesturing to the little intercom on my wall. I groaned, making my way off the bed and to the intercom. I don't bother asking her what she wants me to ask for, I just pray that I can get more than three hours of sleep tonight.

* * *

"Wakey wakey! Time to rise and shine!"

"Shut up Mays!" I growl, rolling onto my stomach and covering my head with a pillow. She kept me up for hours practicing with the knife again. She laughed jumping up next to me.

"Come on! Get up lazy bones!"

Just as I'm about to say something I hear two loud raps on my door." Up, up, up! It's a big, big day!" I groan as I hear Effie's loud heels retreating down the hall. Throwing aside my blankets I roll out of bed, yawning and stretching. Giving myself a quick once over I'm happy that I don't look as exhausted as I feel. My hair is wild and the shirt I slept in, the same flannel one I was wearing at dinner is wrinkled beyond repair but I'm too tired to care. I throw on a pair of loose sweatpants, and brush my teeth, enjoying the luxury of a toothbrush since in about a week I'll be fighting for my life and I doubt a toothbrush is something that the Gamemakers would put in a backpack.

"You coming May?" She shakes her head and I try not to look too disappointed. She hugs me once, giving me a kiss on the forehead and promising she'll meet me at training before she disappears. Sighing I make my way to the dining hall where the mouthwatering aroma of ham and biscuits is coming from. Once again I'm the last to arrive, although neither Cinna nor Portia is present. I sit next to Effie, paying no attention to the Gale's curious expression. I serve myself plate after plate of the delicious food, gorging myself on bread rolls and hot chocolate. Effie and Haymitch are both skimming through today's newspapers, seeing the effect of our fiery debut. Effie prattles on and on about something inconsequential and other than a polite nod here and there I stay silent the entire meal.

Gale clears his throat loudly and I silently curse myself for looking up instead of ignoring it. "What's the game plan for today? It's the first day of training." Gale looks directly at Haymitch and I can't help but notice how much animosity he has in his voice.

To my utter surprise Haymitch actually looks up from his cup of coffee and actually answers his question, "First things first, I can train you separately if you like decide now

"Why would you train us separately?" Gale asks, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Say if one of you had a special skill and didn't want the other to know." I expect Gale to scoff at the idea of me having a skill but he doesn't."So together or separate?"

I wait for Gale to insist on training separate from me but he doesn't, "Together's fine." He looks right at me then, "You've seen me enough times with squirrels hanging around my belt to know my skill." I nod once in response. Maybe we can at least be civil about all this.

"Alright then." Haymitch says taking a swig of coffee, "Second during training I want you to stay together. Always."

"What!"I flinch as Gale snarls at Haymitch. Or maybe not so civil.

"You heard me. Eat lunch together, go to stations together appear to be as friendly as possible."

"Look you training us together is one thing but being stuck to each other during actually training! I can't waste that time! I know way more than her! She'd hold me back!" Haymitch yells something unintelligible then and Gale scoffs something back. I stare at the ham in front of me, a small carving knife hanging of the plate. In one fluid motion I stand up, grabbing the knife and throw it across the room in a straight line, the knife lodging itself in between two panels of wood with a loud thump. Turing around I see Gale and Haymitch staring at me, their eyes widen in surprise. I glance back to look at my work and am proud to see it's a pretty far distance and ledged deep into the wood. A great shot.

Haymtich walks to where the knife is gutting out of the wall, retching it out, he tosses it to me and I catch it mid air by the handle, something Maysilee taught me last night. "How the hell did you learn to throw knives sweetheart?"

I smile smugly, " I play darts. I never miss." He stares at me for a second before I realize my mistake. Darts. The one weapon that my aunt used in her games. I try to think of something to say but before I can Haymitch laughs loudly, throwing his arm around my shoulder.

"I knew you were a fighter!" I grin up at him, for the first time seeing the man that Maysilee talks about. I glance over at Gale and find him in a state of awe and I smugly think how dumb he looks with his mouth hanging open like that. "What else you good at sweetheart?"

"Running." I answer automatically. "I'm fast."

"Really now? What about you Hawthorne? You fast?"

"I guess." Gale says still staring at me.

"Huh, well you got a throw like that?" Haymitch's laughs again, squeezing my shoulder.

"No," Gale scowls, "but I'm great with snares and I'm pretty good at archery."

"Snares huh? Not bad. Alright listen up you two at training, stay away from what your good at. Don't let the other tributes know your skills. Try to learn something new, build a fire, throw a mace, just no knives and no snares and stay together, got it?" We nod in compliance and Haymitch dismisses us to get dressed. I walk quickly to my room, feeling Gale's curious gaze on me. Taking a fast shower I dry my hair off and tie it up in a ponytail before putting on the maroon tunic and black pants that were left out for me on my bed. Pining my mokingjay pin to the front of my tunic I study myself in the mirror. I don't look like a victor. I don't look like somebody prepared to kill, I look like somebody prepared to die. I look like very simply put like a scared little girl, my wide innocent blue eyes, my long golden hair, I can't even scowl like Gale because my dimples make me look like a child throwing a fit.

"You look fine."Maysilee says, suddenly appearing by my side.

"No I don't. I look like a frightened child."

"Well aren't you?" True but still I would rather have the other tributes not know that. Mays tugs on my hand lightly, walking me out of my room and down the hall. Gale stands by the elevator with Effie and I'm surprised to see we are wearing matching clothes. His expression turns sour at the sight of me, probably annoyed by that I'm matching him. Effie shuffles us into the elevator, prattle about something stupid again. May gentle rubs my arm as the elevator starts its descent, and I try to draw comfort from her presence. At least I won't be in this alone.

"Here we are!" Effie announces as the elevator's door's spring open to reveal where we will begin our training. Almost all the other tributes have already arrived and Effie quickly wishes us luck and steps back inside the elevator, leaving us alone with the others. A man comes around with a clipboard and asks us our names before taping a large black printed number twelve onto our backs. Looking around I see that the last of the tributes have arrived and that me and Gale are the only ones matching. A woman who introduces herself as Atala appears and explains the many different stations and telling us not to ignore the survival stations since they are just as important as the weaponry stations and reminding us that we are forbidden to fight one another but if we wish to practice fighting or wrestling then an assistant will be provided. After her speech the other tributes immediately begin to separate to the different stations, the Careers all heading to where the fiercest weapons are.

"So where to first?"I ask Gale, looking up at him.

"You know anything about making a fire?"

"Not a thing." I say, gesturing for him to lead the way. He smirks slightly at me before heading off to the fire making station. After several good attempts and half a dozen bad ones I tune out the trainer and follow what Maysilee tells me, finally successful at making a decent fire. I grin, looking up at Mays for approval, but see Gale's face looming over me not my aunt's.

"Not bad Undersee."Seeing as it took him about thirty seconds to get a good flame I take his comment as a compliment. "Where to next?"

I scan over the stations, my eyes landing on the camouflage station, thinking about how much Peeta would love that. "You ever try to paint yourself into a tree?"

He smirks at me, "No time like the present to learn." About fifteen minutes into the camouflage station I realize how awful I am at it. How the hell can Peeta turn a scrap of paper into a masterpiece? I can't even make my arm look like a branch. My only solace is that Gale is having just as much trouble as me, his eyebrows scrunched together in frustration.

"Ugh! Just forget it. The only thing I can do is camouflage myself into a mud monster." Gale grunts in agreement, wiping his arm off. "Your turn to pick." Gale picks the edible plant test station, something that he passes without a blink of an eye. I also pass it with flying colors, thanks to Mays instructions.

"How do you know so much about plants?" Gale asks. I shrug, not about to tell him my dead aunt can tell me which plants are poisonous. Lunch is announced then and we all shuffle to the dining room attached to the gym. Most tributes sit by themselves, except the Careers that sit together, loudly conversating about nothing. Because of Haymitch's orders, me and Gale sit together, neither of us talking. It's comfortable silence that much reminds me of my lunch sessions with Katniss. I wonder if Peeta fulfilled his promise and told Katniss how he feels. I hope he has. Once everyone is finished with their food we are sent back into the gym for more training.

Gale decides to make a go for the hand to hand combat station and I tell him that I'll try out some of the weapons. "I can come with you. I'll just do the combat station after your done." His offer startles me but I tell him to go ahead at the combat station, it's not like I'll be of much use there. He nods and we split up for the timing being, and I can't help but wonder why he didn't want to split up.

_"Because Haymitch told him not to, don't get your hopes up for nothing." _ I think. Shaking my head I make my way to the weapon station, ignoring the people already there and hoping they'll ignore me.

"Try a spear. It's not that different from a knife." Mays instructs me and I pick one up, listening as she instructs me on how to hold it. The trainer comes over to me and tries to help me with my stance but just like at the fire starting station I quickly him out and simply follow May's instructions. After a minuet of fixing my hold and stance I take aim for the round bull's-eye a few yards away, throwing the spear with all my force and letting out a small gasp when it strikes in the center of the bull's-eye.

" Have you done this before?" The trainer asks and I slowly shake my head.

Mays grins, "I told you, you have the best aim I've ever seen." I practice a little while longer with spears, the trainer eventually leaves to help someone else and Maysilee helps me with throwing.

"Twelve!" I turn automatically, finding the boy from two, grinning at me again. "That's some arm you got."

"Um, thanks." I say trying not to let it show how much his presence bothers me.

"Cato?" I look slightly behind him to see his district partner, a girl a couple inches shorter that me with long dark brown hair and greenish golden eyes. I would even describe her as pretty if she wasn't glaring daggers at me. "What are you doing?" She asks her partner, Cato.

"Just talking to Twelve here." He responds, winking at me again and causing me to cringe. "See you around." I nod once as he goes back to the girl and turn back to the spear in my hands, looking at May, her expression thoughtful and troubled.

"What did Two want?" I jump, the spear falling to the ground.

"Damn it Gale! Don't do that!" I scold him, picking up the spear and scowling at him. He smirks annoyingly and I roll my eyes, "How'd combat go?"

He shrugs, "I'm okay. Wish I was better. How'd spear throwing go for you?" In response I throw the spear in my hands, watching it glide across the open space before lodging itself dead center in the bulls-eye. I smile triumphantly, looking up to see his reaction. His grey eyes are wide again, his usual scowl replaced by shock."When did you start throwing spears Undersee?"

I laugh, "About thirty minutes ago, not bad huh?" He nods mutely, picking up a spear next to me, a look of determination and stubbornness crossing his features. I bite my tongue to hold back my smirk when Gale tries to throws the spear, missing the target by a foot. He frowns and I laugh again, as he picks up another and tries again, hitting the very edge of the target. I notice movement out of the corner of my eye and see the little girl from District 11, watching me from behind a fake tree used for camouflaging. She's tiny, a good foot shorter than me, she has dark skin and wide eyes the color of caramel. Her hair is wild and free and she looks so young and innocent that I can't help giving her a small smile which she hesitantly returns. Her name is Rue I think, like the flower."Gale?" He grunts in answer, throwing another spear that comes slightly closer to the bulls-eye. "Do you remember the name of the little girl from Eleven? I think it's Rue or something like that."

"What does it matter?" He straightens up, facing me, "Knowing her name won't make it better." I nod once my eyes cast down. I look back to where the little girl was but she's gone. Well, at least she's fast, that will help her. We practice some more on the spears, Gale finally accepts my help is able to hit the bulls-eye as long as he's not too far away. We both try our hand at throwing maces and axes but neither of us are very good and even I can't hit the target with either. Training is announced over and we are herded out to the elevators and up to our chambers.

Once we reach our floor I walk quickly down the hall to my room, hoping that I can get a quick shower before dinner when I'm stopped by Gale's hand on my wrist right before I open the door. "Can I talk to you for a second?" I blink in surprise but nod nonetheless. He stands awkwardly by the door to my room, looking up and down the halls.

_He's worried about being watched, _I think. You do get the feeling that there are cameras on us twenty-four seven. I think for a moment before smiling and grabbing Gale's hand, "Come with me.

**Soooo where do you think Madge is taking Gale ;) hehe! Love it or hate it please review! Gale/Peeta/Finnick kisses to all 3**


	5. Rooftops and Revelations

**Sorry this update took longer than expected! My computer crashed yesterday :( luckly, I had most of the chapter saved on my flash drive! I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES, I know right big shocker haha. Enjoy!**

_Chapter 5_

I lead Gale up the stairway, his hand still in mine. "Turn left here." Mays says helpfully telling me which way to go find the freedom both me and Gale so desperately need. Climbing up another flight of stair we find ourselves in a dome shaped room, a large metal door opening up to the roof. When we reach our destination, I feel Gale let out a deep breath, his body relaxing slightly. I inhale deeply, feeling the wind blow through my hair.

"How'd you know about this?"

"Cinna showed me." I smile, looking up at him, "the wind's too strong to put any cameras out here." I feel him relax even more at my words and I close my eyes, enjoying the fresh air.

"Madge." I open my eyes to see Maysilee smiling slightly, "I'm going to go make a quick visit. You okay here?" I nod, closing my eyes again. "Okay, I'll be back before you go to sleep." I feel her kiss my cheek before disappearing again.

I feel Gale pull lightly on my hand, and I open my eyes to see him leading me towards a small garden, complete with a plush porch swing. Gale sits down and I quickly follow suit. I keep my eyes closed, humming the same tune that Mays always hums as Gale traces small designs on my hand. "So what you want to tell me?"

He pauses a moment, still tracing his finger lightly over my hand, "I didn't mean what I said yesterday."

"Yes you did Gale." I open my eyes to look at the twinkling city, "And your right. I'm probably not even gonna last a day. And if I did what does it matter? I can't win and if by some miracle I do win, I go home to what? A district that hates me now more than ever? Katniss wishing it was you there instead of me? A dying mother and an overworked father? " My voice cracks and I don't bother trying to cover it up, " My mother would grieve me, my father too, the few friends I do have will miss me but other than tha-"

"Stop it." I turn my head to look at Gale, his eyes closed tightly, his face grim. "Don't say that you won't be missed if you don't come home because your wrong."

I snort loudly, rolling my eyes to try to hide the tears in them, "Yeah right, Gale. People will celebrate my death. Cheering in the streets, 'Ding Dong the goody-two shoes mayor's daughter is dead!' Everybody hates me."

"No they don't. They just wish they were you. And the people that actually know you, they all love you."

I laugh, a few tears escaping through my eyes, "Sure they do, no one cares Gale."

"Yes they do!" His eyes snap open meeting my gaze. " Do you know what everyone was saying as they were saying good bye to me? They were all making me promise not to hurt _you_! All Katniss could say was that she wanted me to promise not to hurt you, hell my own baby _brother_ was making me promise not to hurt you!" I freeze when he mentions his brother. He couldn't know could he?

"I'm sure that's not true!"

"It is! They were all so worried about you!" He stops for a second staring at the ground, "Rory told me." He says before looking back to me.

My eyes immediately fall to the ground, trying to determine how mad he was. I never meant to associate with Rory Hawthorne. It was a complete coincidence that I was in the square that day. I was fourteen, standing in the square with Darius eating a cookie as he made crude jokes about one of the other Peacekeeper's taste in women, Maysilee sitting by my side, laughing along with Darius' jokes when I heard a shout. Standing across the square was a little boy, around ten years old by the looks of it, two Peacekeeper who I didn't know were leering over him, one of them holding him by the arm, the other wilding a baton."Darius? Do you know those men?"

He looked up to see the shuffle and shook his head, "No, must be some new recruits from District Two." My mouth went dry as I thought about that, new recruits meant trouble. Every so often we would get a batch of new Peacekeepers from Two, my father always got rid of them after a few weeks, sometimes keeping a few of the more lenient ones, transferring the others to another district, and since District 12 was not exactly the most sought out district, they took the transfer with glee. Peacekeepers sent straight from District 2 were usually the most cruel, taking particular fun in enforcing the rules with as much brute force as possible. The little boy cowered as the Peacekeeper raised his baton and struck him once in the face. I gasped and I heard Darius curse under his breath, Mays wincing as the officer raised his arm again. Without another thought I took off to were the boy was, hearing Darius and Maysilee shout out my name.

"Hey! Stop!" The Peacekeepers look up as I run up to them, my head held high with my best mayor's daughter look on my face.

"You better back your behind outta hear girl." The one holding the boy snickers at me.

I fake being insulted, my face scrunching up as I look at him, "Do you have any idea who you're taking to?"

"Yeah I'm talking to a girl about to get whipped for interfering with the punishment of a prisoner." The boy whimpers at that, staring up at me with big grey eyes.

"Actually gentleman, you are talking to the daughter of Mayor Undersee." Darius' barks out at the men, Mays and him coming to stand next to me. The men stiffen at that, looking down at me in worry.

"Mayor's daughter or no mayor's daughter, she has no right to interfere. She doesn't even know this kid."

"I most certainly do know this child," I lie glaring at the men, "and I demand to know what crime he has committed."

"A woman at the market said that he stole an apple off her cart. And as you are well aware Ms. Undersee, stealing is punishable by death."

"I didn't steal anything!" the boy cries out, trying to wrench his arm free from the Peacekeeper's grasp.

I raise my head up high, using my spoiled rich girl voice when I say, "I demand you release this boy at once." The Peacekeepers look at each other and I feel Darius tense besides me. "I will deal with the boy, and I will personally pay back the woman for whatever he has taken."

"What ties do you have to this boy?"

If I tell them that I do not in fact have any ties with him, that I simply cannot stand to see a boy be beat to death, my demand will be tossed aside, not to mention that it will seem that I disagree a rule set by the Capitol. I look down at the boy, his dark hair and frightened grey eyes clearly pronounce him as someone from the Seam, making it impossible for me to claim him as a relative. I scrabble for another idea and I say the first one that comes to mind, "I'm his brother's girlfriend." I tell them, trying to sound confident in my lie.

The Peacekeepers' expression shifts, both of them look at the boy. "That true?" The boy looks at me, then back quickly at the Peacekeepers nodding his head.

They still seem unsure and Darius coolly states, "Come on now, you don't want Ms. Undersee to tell her father that you hurt her boyfriend's brother do you? Their practically family." Darius stares down at them before one of them nods to the one holding the boy, his grip relaxing before finally releasing the boy. He comes flying at me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I'm startled by the embrace but try my best not to show my surprise, hugging the boy back and politely thanking the Peacekeepers. I watch as they both turn and walk away leaving the square. Darius laughed loudly, throwing his arm around me, "That took some guts Madge!" I smile up at him, before looking down at the boy, still wrapped securely around my waist.

"You okay?" The boy lifts his head nodding, tears staining his face. I wince as I see the red mark across his face from where he was hit with the baton, knowing that if I hadn't spoken up his face would be in much worse shape.

"Are you really my brother's girlfriend?" he sniffles, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

I smile at him, bending down to look him in the face, "Depends. Who's your brother?"

The boy stares at me for a moment before grinning at me. I grin back, thinking about what a nice smile he has and how much it transforms his face. He blushes for some reason, looking at the floor as he answers my question, "Gale Hawthorne." I freeze as the reality of what he said hits me. Darius laughs again, louder this time as the boy looks at me curiously. This boy is Gale Hawthorne's brother. Crap. Looking at him I can defiantly see the resemblance now, I've even seen him with Gale before and I cringe as I think about what he'll do if he find out that I even talked to his brother. "So, I guess you're _not_ my brother's girlfriend."

"Hardly." I say laughing nervously. "Complete opposite actually."

"Your big brother seems to have a certain distaste for my friend here." Darius says, chuckling slightly.

"Why?" The boy asks, looking at me, cocking his head to the side.

I shrug, "Who knows? I just know he hates my guts." My heart clenches at the sad truth but I pay no attention to it.

The boy's eyes widen in sudden terror, "Please don't give me back to the Peacekeepers! I promise I didn't steal that apple from that lady! Please, I'm sorry if my brother is mean to you just please please don't give me back to the Peacekeepers!" he was crying again, huge tears rolling down his face.

"No! No, of course I won't do that! I would never." I bend down to hug the boy again and he clings to me, wrapping his arms around my neck. "What's your name?"I ask, pulling away to look at him.

"Rory." He says sniffling.

I smile, "Well, it's very nice to meet you Rory Hawthorne." He smiles back a small shy smile and I stand up, wiping my hands on my skirt, "Now, to get you home safe."

"It's alright I can get home by myself."

"I don't think so mister. I'm walking you home." He blushes again and gestures down the path leading back to the Seam, I motion him to lead the way. We walk in silence for less than thirty seconds before Darius cuts in and starts talking idly to Rory. Mays has seemed to have disappeared again but I'm to busy smiling as Darius jokes with the young boy, making him laugh loudly, a sweet innocent little kid laugh to notice. I start in on the conversation too, joking along with the boys, listening as Rory tells me about his friends, his baby brother and sister, the pet lizard that he keeps hidden in his room and feds scraps to. Somehow his hand finds his way into mine and it feels oddly familiar, walking down the street with a young boy with vibrant grey eyes, chatting away about nonsense thing. We walk for a little longer before we find ourselves at the Hawthorne's house and I start to feel uneasy, "Um, Rore? Your brother's not home is he?"

Rory shakes his head and I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, "It's Sunday so he's in the woods." His head snaps up, his eyes suddenly fearful as he eyes Darius.

I realize the reason for his fear and am quick to put am at ease, "Don't worry, Darius is a good Peacekeeper."

Darius winks at him, ruffling his hair, "You bet I am, now you better get inside before your mother gets worried." At that precise moment Mrs. Hawthorne steps outside, her hair thrown together in a messy bun and wearing a dingy brown dress and a yellow apron. And she's absolutely beautiful. Threes a strength in her eyes that I've never seen in my own mother and I at the moment envy the Hawthorne's more than anything in the world. She looks at us, confusion plain on her face and I realize that I should probably explain why her son was being walked home by the mayor's daughter and a Peacekeeper. I open my mouth to explain but Rory beats me to it, explaining the whole situation and glorifying my actions far more than essay. When he finishes Mrs. Hawthorne looks up at me with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you so much for saving my boy." She clutches Rory tight, looking down at him with relief. I feel a sharp pang over their embrace but I smile through it.

"No thanks necessary."

"Will you join us for dinner? Both of you?" Darius grin down at me as I turn beet red as I think about what Gale would do if he found me at his dinner table.

"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly."

"Well, we must repay you somehow." Stubbornness is etched deep in her face and I remember how somebody told me that you can never help someone from the Seam without them thinking they needed to repay you.

I smile politely at her before saying, "Actually consider us even, your son helped me once too." Her eyes widen in surprise and I feel a small twinge of sadness that Gale never told her about our small encounter all those years ago.

"Really now? But still, if it wasn't for you, who knows what would have happened to Rory." She clutches her son tightly to her chest, tears forming in her eyes at the thought of what could have happened to him. "Please there must be something."

There is something, but I doubt she would like it. "Could you not tell Gale? About me helping Rory?"

Her eyebrows rise in surprise at my unusual request, "Why not? He would be more than grateful that you helped his little brother!" No, he wouldn't. He would be furious that I even spoke to his brother, and probably feel as if he owed me for it, which would make him even more enraged.

"Please Mrs. Hawthorne. Me and Gale, well, we aren't exactly friendly."

"Darius said that Gale hates her." Rory jumped in looking up at his mother.

She frowns, looking at her son then back at me, "But how can that be? You're such a nice young girl. And aren't you the one he sells strawberries to you?" I nod, my cheeks turning red as she looks me over, as if trying to figure out why her son finds me so repulsive. "You really don't want Gale to know?" I shake my head, my eyes on the ground. She's silent for a moment and I fear that she may refuse my request but quietly says, "Well, alright then." My head shots up and I see her staring at me with something that looks an awful lot like pity. I try not flinch away from her gaze, if there is one thing that I cannot stand it is people pitying me.

"Thank you Mrs. Hawthorne."

She smiled sadly at me, "Please call me Hazelle. I don't know why you wouldn't want my son to know of your sacrifice but I will uphold your request."

I smile gratefully at her and see Darius grinning before he throws his arm around my shoulder again. "Miss Undersee likes to keep the best of herself hidden, that way everyone will only think of her as daddy's little girl." I scowl at him and he laughs, kissing me on the temple of my forehead. Hazelle smiles at us and I hear a little girl calling her from inside.

"Well, we best be on our way." I say, knowing that she has to return to her other children, "Have a pleasant evening Hazelle." Darius tips his hat at her as he also says his goodbyes.

Hazelle smiles at us, thanking us again when Rory bolts away from her and wrap his arms around my waist again. "Thank you Madge." I laugh, squeezing him tightly.

"You're most welcome Rory." I bend down then and give him a small kiss on the cheek. He beams up at me, his face turning red and he dashes into the house as Darius and Hazelle laughing at his reaction.

Hazelle and Rory never did tell Gale about our encounter, something I was more than appreciative for, but sometimes I would see Rory and Gale in the square and he would smile at me, sometimes even giving me a little wave. I would always smile back but was quick to walk in the opposite direction of them, not wanting Gale's curious eyes to find mine.

And now he's staring at me with the same curious grey eyes, watching as I scramble for something to say. I think about lying for a split second before simply asking, "When did he tell you?"

"When they came to say good bye. He was crying so hard that it was hard to understand him but my mom finally told me what he was trying to say." I hear him exhale loudly and I cringe, hoping against hope that he won't yell at me too much. "You saved him." I risk taking a glance at him. His stormy eyes are looking up at the sky, his usual scowl is wiped completely off his face. He turns to look at me and I can't look away, "Why didn't you tell me?"

This was not what I was expecting. I was expecting yelling, screaming, calling me every bad name he could think of, not him looking at me with some intense emotion in his eyes that I couldn't place. I bite my lip as I answer his question honestly, "Because I thought you would get mad."

"Why would I get mad? You saved my little brother!"

"You hate me! Of course you would have gotten mad."

He pauses for a moment and I tear my eyes away from his. "I don't hate you. I never hated you."

I scoff, rolling my eyes, "No need to lie Gale. You hate me and you've been even worse since we got here, since you found out about Rory, so _obviously_ you got mad."

He doesn't say anything in response and I close my eyes, knowing deep down that I'm right but knowing that it stills hurts that he didn't deny it. "I didn't get mad."

"Then why have you been treating m like you have?"

"Because I'm mad Madge! I'm not mad at you but I'm furious that you're here! You were never supposed to be reaped! And now I see you waving and smiling at those Capitol fools and yeah I got mad, but not at _you_ at _them_! I'm mad that you have to smile at those idiots just to have a chance of staying alive! They don't deserve your smiles and your kisses." He stops and I stare at him, his eyes a blazing shade grey that I've never seen before. "I'm mad that you never told me that you saved my brother. I'm mad that I have been the biggest asshole to you for nothing other than I wished that I had all the material things you have. I'm just so _mad_ Madge!" He looks up at the sky again as I watch his beautiful face fill with so much sadness, anger and regret, far more than someone his age should have. I squeeze his hand and looks back down at me, smiling at me slightly before squeezing my hand back. "I'm sorry I yelled at you yesterday."

"I'm sorry I punched you, not saying that you didn't deserve it," I smile at him to let him know that I'm kidding.

He smiles back at me, "I feel awful though, I shouldn't have done that." He shouldn't have but I understand why he did, he's just frustrated at this whole situation. I am too.

"Did Katniss really ask you to not hurt me?"

Gale looks surprised before he says, "Yeah, her, Rory and my mom they all told me not to. Why so you ask?"

I shrug, looking back at the stars. "You don't have to you know. I mean if you find me in the Games I don't expect you too..."

"I would never hurt you Madge." I look back at him and find him looking at me with his intense grey eyes, "Not even just because of what you did for Rory, I just I couldn't, I wouldn't hurt you."

"Me neither." I answer honestly and we go back to sitting in silence, watching the night sky turn to a darker shade of black. After awhile we silently get up and head back down to our rooms, knowing that dinner will be ready soon and neither of us wants a lecture on being

tardy from Effie. Gale walks next to me, and every few seconds I sneak a glance at him and find him looking at me. My cheeks turn red and I'm hopeful that he can't tell in the dark corridor. We finally reach me room and I realize that we're still holding hands. Gale must realize it to because he quickly drops my hand, mumbling something about seeing me at dinner. I nod and retreat into my bedroom, shutting the door. I close my eyes, leaning back on the door, not bothering to turn on the light just yet, thinking about stormy grey eyes and a gentle touch tracing patterns on the back of my hand. Turning on the light I stumble to the bathroom, still a daze, turning on the water for the shower and stripping myself of the sweaty clothes I wore for training. I sigh as I step into the heavenly shower, the hot water soothing my sore muscles. I take a must fast shower than I anticipated and quickly dry myself off and ruffle through the closet trying to find something to wear to dinner.

_I'm not trying to impress Gale. I'm not trying to impress Gale._ I keep telling myself over and over again as I look through piles of pants, shirts, skirts, blouses and dresses. _I just want to look nice for dinner, that's all._ I finally find a beautiful slivery grey dress that stops just above my knee with a sweetheart neckline. I put it on, and brush my hair, pining some of it back but leaving most of it down in my usual waves. I take my mockingjay pin off my training clothes and pin it onto my dress, examining myself in the mirror.

_I'm not trying to impress Gale._ Yet, I've inexplicably have picked a dress in nearly the same exact color as his eyes. I blush furiously, about to rip the whole dress off and throw on something else when Effie knocks on my door calling me for supper. I groan in frustration, quickly slipping on my flats and making my way into the dining room, hoping against hope that Gale won't notice how similar the color of my dress is to his eyes. When I arrive, I notice that both Portia and Cinna are missing and only Haymtich and Effie are present. Effie looks at me oddly and Haymith suddenly erupts into a fit of laughter. I frown in confusion before looking behind me and seeing Gale walk into the room, his hair still wet from his shower wearing black pants and a blue shirt. Sky blue. The same color as my eyes. _Calm yourself Madge. He probably didn't even notice. Come on no way in that he would actually be trying to impress _me _right?_ The embarrassed look on his face begs ro differ. I blush again, staring down at the floor as I see him looking over my dress, realizing the obvious.

Gale sits down on the left side of Haymith and I take the eat next to him. He smiles a little at me and I return the smile, blushing as I look up at him. Platters of food are placed in front of us but before any of us can serve ourselves, Effie and Haymitch start to lay into us, badgering us on how training went.

"It went alright." I answer, serving myself a heaping portion of some sort of lamb stew.

"And you stuck together?" Haymtich asks, raising an eyebrow at us.

"Like glue." Gale responds, smirking at me as I bump him with my shoulder.

"What stations did you try?" Effie asks, taking a sip o her wine and delicately wiping her mouth.

"Fire starting, camouflage, edible plants, Gale tried combat and we tried out some weapons."

"And how did they go?"

I shrug, "Alright I guess, though I cant say I mastered any of them."

Gale snorts and I turn to see him rolling his eyes, "She was able to make a good fire in less than ten minutes, she wized past the edible plant test and she was so good at spear throwing that even the boy from Two noticed her."

"They boy from Two noticed you?" Effie asks, almost dropping her glass of wine. I nod, glaring at Gale force bringing it up.

"And what did he say?" She asks, looking actually interested in the answer.

I shrug again, "Nothing much. He said that I have a good arm."

"Why were you showing off, when I explicitly told you not to!" Haymitch erupts, glaring at me in anger and frustration.

I blink in surprise at his reaction, "I wasn't showing off."

"Obviously you were! Damn it Maysilee why can't you ever listen to me!" I freeze as I see his face slowly lose its anger, his eyes going hollow as he focuses on the plate in front of him. I stare at him, watching as he realizes that he yet again called me by the wrong name. That I am not the girl that he lost in the Games all those years ago. Gale grabs my hand from under the table, squeezing it gently. I give him a small smile, squeezing his hand back.

"So," Effie says, clearly uncomfortable with the awkward silence in the room, "how did fire starting go?"

"Good," Gale answers, "Madge was able to get a good flame in less than ten minuets."

I snort, "He was able to get a flame in less than thirty seconds."

"And how was camouflage?"

"Horrible, the only thing I could camouflage myself as is a mud monster." The sound of a plate falling onto the floor shattering into dozens of pieces echoes off the walls and my head whips around to see Haymitch stalking out of the room, a minute later slamming the door of his room. I can feel Effie and Gale's gazes on me so I keep my head down, staring at my lap. Eventually Effie asks Gale about his time at the combat station and they chat for a bit, but I keep quiet the rest of the meal, every know and then feeling Gale's inquiring eyes on me. After we're done with dinner I quickly say my good nights to Effie and Gale before retreating to my room. When I finally get there I'm met with Mays sitting cross-legged on my bed, humming to herself as always. I throw myself down on the bed next to her, covering my eyes with my arm.

"What happened?" She asks, combing her fingers through my hair.

"Haymitch called me your name again. And he stormed out of the room for no apparent reason."

"I'm sorry he called you my name again, I know it bothers you,." It does bother me, but not as much as him running out on dinner does. "What happened right before he left?"

"Nothing really. We were talking about the camouflage station and I said that I was horrible at it and the only thing I could successfully turn myself into was a mud monster." Her hands freeze in my hair and I raise my arm off my eyes to find her staring off into space again. "Mays?"

"Did you say that in front of Haymitch?" I nod and she sighs loudly, braiding my hair again.

"No wonder he left. I told him something similar to that in our Games. We were trying the camouflage station with little success and he said that it's an useless skill any way and I told him, 'Well, you never know, what if the arnea is one huge mud pit, we can disguise ourselves as mud monsters.'" She smiles a little, clearly thinking back nearly twenty-four years. "It was the first time that I had heard him laugh since we boarded the train after the Reaping." It makes sense, of course he would go running out of there after I just said something that my dead aunt told him more than two decades ago. Mays starts humming softly again and I feel my eyelids growing heavy, slowing drifting off to sleep.

* * *

When I wake up, my windows are still dark and Maysilee is gone. "Mays?" I call out into the darkness and am answered by silence. Sighing, I climb out of bed, realizing that I still in the dress I wore to dinner. Grabbing a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt from my dresser I take off the dress and thro on the more comfortable clothes. I think about climbing back into bed, but quickly decide that theres no way that I can go to sleep here without Mays with me. I decide just to go to the dining hall and see get some hot chocolate from a machine they have in there. The halls are dark and I have no idea how to turn on the lights so I stumble around for a bit before finding the hot cocoa machine. I make myself a cup and take a few sips, looking around the dark and empty room. It's even creepier in the night. "Come on Mays where the hell are you?" I grumble in frustration.

"That's what I ask myself every day." My head jerks up to see Haymitch standing a few feet away staring at me. I freeze in horror of what he just heard, every muscle in my body tensing up as I try to think of something to defuse the situation. "Don't bother trying cover it up, I've known for awhile now."

There's truth in his eyes and I decide against trying to lie to him, "How did you know?"

He shrugs, pouring himself a cup of coffee, "Some of the things you say, she's said them too, and then there's the song."

"What song?"

"The one you're always humming, it's the same one she used to." He begins to hum softly, May's song. "Do you know the words to it?"

I shake my head, even though that's a lie. Of course I know the words. I was little, probably seven or eight when I walked into the living room to see my father hunched over the piano, his fingers racing across the keys, singing in a husky deep voice. He was signing Maysilee's song and I couldn't help but stand there and watch as his voice got louder and louder. It was the first time I ever heard my father sing and it was the first time I had ever heard the song's lyrics. "Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men. It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again!" I had never seen my father so angry, his face bent in frustration and fury. After he finished the song he sat there for a moment before he caught me watching him. "You heard?" It was more of a statement than a question but I nodded nonetheless. "You must never tell anybody about this alright? I can be our little secret." That was the first of our little secrets but certainly not the last. Little secrets about how much my father hated the Capitol, how much he wanted more than anything to see Snow's reign of terror end.

"It's an old song isn't it?"

"Very old. Before the Dark Days." He simply looks at me for a second before asking me, "How long have you seen her?"

"Since before I can remember. Does she visit you too?"

He nods, "Started the day I got back to Tweleve, I thought I was crazy at first. But then your mother told me she could see her too."

"You knew my mother?" I asks, visibly surprised.

"Yup." He stops a moment before saying, "We were friends. All of us, before the Games. Back when we were kids. Your mother never told you?" I shake my head and he laughs without humor, "Well, we were. But I guess everybody was friends with the Donner twins, they were too nice for their own good. You look just like them. But you have your father's eyes, the shape at least, the color you get from Mays and your mother."

"He told me to listen to you, at the goodbyes."

"Your father did?"

I nod, "Do you know him?"

He doesn't respond for a moment, taking a swig of coffee before saying, "Everybody knows the Mayor. You best be getting to bed, its late and you need your rest."

I look at him oddly before grabbing my cup of cocoa and heading back to my room. It all makes sense now, the reason why he acts so peculiar when Mays is around me. Because he can see her. Its odd knowing that he, May and my mother were friends, why did they never tell me? My mother never talked about Haymitch and whenever Maysilee did it was always about the Games. And the way he talked about May it was just…odd. The whole situation is too strange. I set my cup on m nightstand, climbing back into bed and hoping that tomorrow won't be so confusing as today was.

**Love it? Hate it? Please Review!I know this chapter was kind of a filler but I felt like I needed to explain somethings. BTW somethings in this story are going to be pretty important and are going to be brought up again and again, the song that Maysilee is always humming is one of them! The song is from the musical Les Mis and it's all about revolution so it goes pretty great with Hunger Games right? Okay lovelies please review! Pretty pretty please with whip cream and cherries on top! All reviews get a kiss from Peeta/Gale/Darius/Finnick ;)**


	6. Propositions and Gamemakers

**I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES! Thank you all who reviewed I love you guys soooo much! I wrote this chapter really late at night so I'm sorry for an grammar and spelling errors. Enjoy :D**

_**Chapter 6**_

When I was a child my mother would wake me up each morning for school. She would sit on my bed and stroke my hair, gently waking me up to begin my day. When she got sick, my father would wake me up, standing next to my bed, shaking me slightly telling me that I was going to be late for school. When he got busier, Nora would wake me up by opening my door and calling me down for breakfast. Then one day I woke up to the sound of a brand new alarm clock on my dresser going off. After that, no one woke me up anymore. So when I feel soft hands stroking my hair I think for a moment that it's my mother, telling me it's time to start the day. That is until I hear Maysilee's singsong voice telling me "Wakey wakey! Time to rise and shine!"

I roll onto my side, mumbling about ways to shut up annoying dead aunts. Remembering my late night discussion with Haymitch I sit up, scowling at Mays. "When were you going to tell me that Haymtich can see you?"

I expect her to gasp, to demand to know how I found out, to try to cover up the truth. Instead she shrugs her shoulder saying, "It never came up."

"And the fact that you two were friends, that never came up either right?"

She pauses for a moment, looking down at her hands, "He told you we were friends?" her voice oddly disappointed, a strange look on her face. I nod and she sighs once, running a hand through her golden hair. "It's hard, talking about me and Mitch, it just hurts too much."

I could ask a million valid questions about that one statement but instead I asks, "Since when do you call him Mitch?"

She laughs, ruffling my hair, "There's allot you don't know Madge. Believe me, sometimes it's better to keep it that way. Now come on, your going to be late for breakfast." I jump off the bed, looking once at my drowsy appearance and combing my fingers through my tangled just-got-out-of-bed hair. "My, my who you trying to impress?" I stick my tongue out at her and she laughs again. "I'm going to see your mother. See you at training." She kisses my cheek once before disappearing into thin air. I hear Effie's heeled footsteps coming in my direction and quickly open the door before she can knock.

"Oh! Well look who's up bright and early! I'll just go wake up your district partner and we can finally eat! I'm starved!" In her entire life Effie has not gone more than nine hours without eating, where I have seen children whose hip bones jut out away from the rest of their too thin bodies, men whose faces are hollow and sucked in, women so skinny that I could count every last rib bone. And Effie Trinket had the audacity to claim starvation. I feel the uncontrollable need to slap her perky pink face but by some unimaginable self control I simply smile at her, wishing her good morning and make my way to the dining room.

Haymitch is the only one present and sit on one side of him, taking a cup of hot chocolate from the middle of the table. I honestly don't know what to say to him after our conversation last night so we sit in silence, waiting for Effie and Gale to come in. His words from last night circle around in my head and I can't help wonder what he meant.

_ "He told me to listen to you, at the goodbyes."_

_"Your father did?"_

_I nod, "Do you know him?"_

_He doesn't respond for a moment, taking a swig of coffee before saying, "Everybody knows the Mayor."_ What in the world did he mean by that? True everybody knew who the Mayor but he certainly didn't mean it so trivia as that, right?

"Morning." I look up to see Gale sit down next to me, his shirt wrinkled and hair astray. But his grey eyes are as vibrant as always and his smiling at me in a way that makes me blush.

"Good morning." I reply, smiling softly. I feel him reach under the table, lacing his fingers with mine and I look down at my lap, biting my tongue to hold back my grin.

"Good morning, good morning, good morning all! Let's get this meal started shall we?" Effie comes prancing into the room, and beginning to serve herself a plate of waffles. Effie prattles on throughout the meal without much need for us to put any effort into the conversation she is having with no one in particular. Haymitch stays silent until we're getting ready to go back to our rooms to get ready.

"Same game plan as yesterday, stay together, stay mediocre got it?" Me and Gale both nod before we leave to get dressed. I take a long shower, letting the water rush over my skin, pressing a button on the shower wall that douses me with strawberry scented shampoo and body soap. I wrap myself in a white fluffy towel, turning off the shower and stepping out to see another training outfit laying on my bed. I dress quickly, making sure not to forget to put my pin on the front of my shirt, combing through my wet hair, throwing my hair back ponytail.

"Time to go!" Effie wails, knocking on my door. I swing open the door and walk swiftly to the elevators were Gale and Effie are waiting. We are the last to arrive again and the stations quickly fill up with people. Maysilee stands at the station with a shallow pool of water and beckoning me to gone her. I tug on Gale's arm, motioning to the station and he nods, wordlessly following after me. The instructor smiles at us, obviously happy that she has people at her usually empty station. She teaches us to how to purify water, demonstrating by dropping in a few drops of iodine into the pool. I see Gale eyeing the snares and knotting station and after we both try our hand in purifying water I tug him over to the snares.

He stops me, grabbing onto my wrist, "Haymitch said not to."

I smirk at him, "He told _you_ to stay away from snares but he told _me _to try something new. And I've never been too good at tying knots." He smiles a little at me and allows me to tug him over to the empty station. He tries his best not to hide his talent, fumbling over the simplest knots and making the instructor sigh, shaking his head.

"Is this right?" I ask, holding up the knot I've been working on.

The trainer beams at me, "Perfectly done! Here now, try a harder one." Mays gives me pointers as I try to do the tricky knot, and just like all the other stations I tune out the instructor and follow her advice. By the look on the man's face I've done a good job at it and he quickly shows me a snare that leaves an animal, or a person, dangling by its foot.

"It's your hands." I look up to see Gale standing over me, examining my work.

"My hands?"

"Your fingers, really. Their small and nimble. It's why you're so good at knot tying and snares." He has a strange look on his face, almost like irritation, "Must be from all that piano playing." A few days ago his comment would have gotten under my skin, making me flush in anger, and probably causing some snide remark to come out of my mouth. Now I just roll my eyes, and continue with my work. After I'm finished with the snare, and the trainer has given me for more praise than necessary, we head off to edible insect section, something that Mays assures me is useful and I should pay attention to, but I simply can't get over the fact that it's eating bugs. Hopefully it won't come down to that. Lunch is announced and Gale and I sit next to each other as we did yesterday, making idly small talk. I notice a basket of bread on the table and laugh, causing Gale to jump.

"What?" He asks, mildly annoyed.

"Nothing, I just noticed something." I grab the bread basket and empty it out onto the table, "They have bread from all the districts." He looks at questionably and I point them out to him one by one, the bite-sized square-shaped rolls from District 3, the fish-shaped loafs tinted green with seaweed from District 4, the nearly pure white loafs with bits of grain sprinkled on top from District 9 and the crescent moon dotted with seeds from District 11.

"How do you know so much about bread?"

I shrug, "I'm friends with the baker."

He snorts, "Why are you friends with a forty year old man?"

I laugh, pushing him playfully with my elbow, "I'm friends with his son!"

"Oh, which one?"

"The youngest one, Peeta." I tense when I say his name, my eyes suddenly watering.

"You okay?" I nod, pushing on the nerve in my hand to keep the tears away, silently piling the bread back into its basket.

"I just miss him is all." I peek up at him and see him staring at the ground. We stay silent the rest of the meal. When lunch is over we decide to try out the obstacle course.

"Don't go too fast," Mays tells me, "don't let the others see how quick you are." I nod once to show her I heard her and take off down the course. I slow up, taking my time around the course, but when I finish Gale is panting slightly out of breath and I'm grinning wildly.

"What in the hell are smiling about Undersee?" My smile grows and he laughs a little at me. I feel hyper and active and all I want to do is run as fast as I can until I can't feel my legs but I know that I can't do that here, not yet, so I hope from one foot to the other as Gale looks at me like I'm crazy. We go to weaponry next and I notice Cato standing a little ways away from me, smiling at me. I ignore him, looking around at all the weapons they have stockpiled when I see the little girl from District 11 again. She's standing slightly to the right of me, holding a slingshot firmly in her tiny hand, shooting a small plastic rock out of it and hitting the bulls-eye again and again. I eye her curiously before picking up a small sling shot and a plastic rock aiming it at the target and hitting the bull-eye on my first try. The girl gives me a tiny smile, which I quickly return, before she skips off to join her district partner at the shelter building station. "Lucky shot." Gale says from behind me, throwing a spear and barely hitting the target. I scoff, picking up another rock and slipping it into the sling shot. I make sure his watching before I close my eyes tightly, and release the rock, opening my eyes to see it hit the bulls-eye right on. "Okay fine, you have good aim, I'll give you that." He grabs a bow and a quiver of arrow off the wall of weapons behind us and just as I open my mouth to remind him that Haymitch said to stay away from archery, he hands them to me, a smirk on his face. "Now try to hit the target with _those_." I look around for the training, finding him standing over by the girl from District 9, trying to teach her how to hold a knife properly.

"Hold the bow with your left hand and point your left shoulder to the target," May instructs me. I turn my body, pointing my left shoulder like she told me to. "Good, now point the bow towards the ground and string the bow onto the arrow, yes just like that. Okay, now draw your bow up and take aim." I do as she says, raising the bow up and aiming it at the target.

"Feet shoulder width apart." I tense as I feel Gale's breathe on my neck, his foot gently nudging my feet open. He places a hand on my shoulder, the other on my arm, "Relax. Deep breathe out." I take a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Good. Keep both eyes open, and release." I release my fingers from the string and the arrow flies across the open space, lodging itself in the dead center of the target. Bulls-eye. Gale freezes besides me and I look up at him to see him staring at me in disbelief. "How did you do that?"

"Well, you helped." I say, smiling weakly at him.

"It took me years to even come close to hitting a bulls-eye and you did it on the first shot." He stares down at me coldly before stating, "Beginner's luck." For some reason this irks me to no end, so when he turns away from me, I grab an arrow from the quiver on my back, notch it onto the bow and take aim at one of the human silhouettes, releasing the arrow and watching as it slices through the air, hitting right were the heart would be. I grab string another arrow and release it into the stomach of the silhouette.

"Madge." Maysilee says as I reach back for another arrow, "Madge! Stop!" I twirl around, nearly shouting at her to leave me alone when I came face to face with Cato. He puts his hands up in front of his chest, a gesture of surrender, and I realize that I have the bow aimed straight at his heart. I feel heat rising to my cheeks, dropping my bow and apologizing to him.

"No need for apologizes." He says, grinning at me, "Why don't you come over here for a second." He motions behind him and I see the rest of the Career tributes standing behind him, watching me. The boy from District 1 smiles at me, while the girl from District 2 glares down at the ground. I jump back as I feel something grab my hand and look up to see Cato smiling down at me as he grasps my hand in his. I see Gale throwing spears again, not even ten feet from where Cato and I are standing, his body tense and his face pulled down into a scowl and I know that he can see me, he's just unwilling to help. Maysilee give me a small desperate look, her face clearly showing the worry that I'm trying so very hard to hide. Cato tugs firmly on my hand, pulling me along to the other Careers. "Madge," he says, grinning down at me as I wonder how he knows my name, "meet Glimmer, Marvel," the two tributes from District One nod their heads, "Ronan and _Marina." _Cato gestures to the tributes from District 4 "and Clove," his district partner bares her teeth at me and I try not to finch. I smile weakly at the other Careers and I see Clove roll her eyes. "We have a little proposition for you."

I look at him, confused, "What kind of proposition?"

"We want you to join our alliance." I stare at him in absolute shock as I start to feel dread rising up into my body.

"I-I don't know." I stutter, looking down at my shoes.

"Be logically Madge, you and I both know that the victor usually comes out of the Career pack. We can help you, protect you."

"But why do you want me?" I ask before I can stop myself.

Clove mutters something under her breath but Cato ignores her. "We've been watching you. Your good at the survival skills and you're a fast learner at weapons. We can help each other Madge."

His looking down at me with such intensity that its making me blush. The others stare at me as if it's the simplest decision in the world, as if they can't believe it's taking me so long to agree. But I can't. Career tributes are ruthless killing machines, people that truly buy into all the Capitol's propaganda, the very type of people that I hate. But it's temping. It's so tempting to just nod my head and be under their protection, to know that during the Games I won't need to scramble to find food or supplies, I won't be worried about other tributes sneaking up on me in the night. But even being in the Career pack doesn't grantee my safety, a lare number of Careers have literally gotten stabbed in the back by their supposed allies. And being from a different district, I will without a doubt by the first one killed when the alliance falls apart. But that's not what's going through my head as I stand there, waiting to give the Careers their answer. No, all I can think of is what I told Peeta as the goodbyes.

_"I just-I just want to stay me, I don't want to turn into something I'm not."_

_"You won't, you're too good for that."_

But if I join the Careers I'll be doing exactly that, turning into something I'm not. And I refuse to sell my soul to these people, if I die in these Games I want to die as Madge Undersee, the girl who loved strawberries, the girl who played the piano, the girl whose father was the mayor of District 12. I refuse to die as Madge Undersee, the Career. I see Maysilee smiling at me and I know that she knows my decision, and that she agrees with it. However, plain out refusing their offer would be suicide and I remember what my father once told me about declining an offer made by somebody in power. "Tell them what they want to hear without promising anything to them and pin the blame on somebody that they can't hurt."

So I smile shyly at them, looking down as if it's all too much for me, "Gee, that's an amazing offer and I'm truly honored that you would give me an opportunity to join you but I need to talk to my mentor first before I make any decisions about making alliances."

Cato smiles at me, "Well, take all the time you need to think it over, just remember what your options are." I nod smiling before turning and walking back to the archery station, feeling his eyes on me as I walk away.

"Okay?" I ask under my breath, looking at Mays wanting to know if I was able to warred them off without making them angry.

She nods, "Perfectly done." I sigh in relief just as Atala announces that training is over for the day. I follow the other tributes to the elevator when I see Gale a few feet away, staring at me and gesturing for me to come to him, giving me a small friendly smirk. I roll my eyes and continue on my way to the elevator, purposely getting into a different elevator than him. When the doors finally open up to my floor I find Gale pacing in front of the doors, frustration on his face.

"What was all that about?" He asks, clearly irritated at me.

I glare at him, "Why didn't you do help me when Cato was harassing me?"

"Why was Cato harassing you?!" Haymitch demands, storming into the hallway, Effie following after him. I shrug my shoulders, suddenly aware that Mays has disappeared again.

"He, um, he invited me to join the Career alliance."

"He what!" Effie and Haymitch shout at the same time, Gale staring at me in disbelief.

"I didn't say yes!" I yell back, frustrated at the looks their giving me.

Effie looks utterly baffled and asks, "But why would he want you to join them?"

I shake my head, "I don't know he said that I was good at the survival skills and that I've a fast learner when it comes to the weapons so I guess tha-"

"Bull." Gale interrupts me, scowling at me. "He wanted you long before he even knew you were any good at anything. Or did you forget your little chat with him at the opening ceremonies?"

"I didn't chat with him!" I say before Haymitch can yell at me again, "He approached _me_!"

"Exactly!" Gale yells back, looking smug.

"But why would he approach you?" Effie asks, once again looking devastatingly confused.

Gale scoffs in annoyance, "Because she's too beautiful for her own good. She could get a two in training and be an absolute dunce in the interview and _still_ have sponsors lining up for her! She's the damn female version of Finnick Odair!" I stare at him in shock, my cheeks turning beet red at his word. The silence that falls over the room is thick and uncomfortable, me staring at Gale, him staring at the wall and Effie and Haymitch staring at both of us. "They want sponsors," he says, looking directly at Haymitch, "and they'd do anything to get them." I know that I should be annoyed that he thinks the only reason why the Careers want me is to gain sponsorship but I'm try preoccupied trying to process the fact that he called me beautiful. After a moment Effie gently tells us that dinner will be ready in an hour and Gale storms to his room, and I head to my room, still in a daze.

I take a shower, once again choosing strawberry scented soaps and sprays. I grab a light yellow sundress, the first thing I find in the closet, and throw it on, quickly brushing my hair and pining my mockingjay pin to the front of the dress. I take a quick peek at my reflection before walking out to dinner, my stomach doing weird flip flops as I walk down the hall. Gale is already sitting down next to Haymitch and I silently take the seat next to him. Dinner is delicious, as always, but I hardly taste any of it, I'm still trying wrap my head around what Gale said. Effie chatters as usual, asking questions about training that no one answers. My foot bounces up and down on it's own and Effie huffs, "Madge! Ladies do not bounce up and down at the dinner table."

"Sorry," I mutter, trying to still my feet. "I'm just hyper is all."

"Hyper? Shouldn't you be bone tired?"Haymitch raises an eyebrow at me and Gale grunts.

"We ran the obstacle course today, but she slowed up so the others couldn't see how fast she is. She's been hyper since then." He smirks at me a little at me, bumping me with his elbow and I give him a small smile in return.

Haymitch looks at us for a second before asking if we're done with dinner. We aren't but we nod nonetheless, "Good. Meet me in front of the elevators in ten minutes. I want to see how fast you can run Mays." He doesn't notice his mistake and I don't bother correcting him, my face lightly up as I grin, quickly going to my room to change out of my dress. Maysilee has yet to come back but I barely notice that, stripping out of my dress and throwing on a pair of leggings and a loose tunic and putting on the running shoes I wear to training. I tie my hair back in a sloppy ponytail and run out to the elevators. Haymitch, Effie and Gale are already waiting for me and Haymitch motions for us to get into the elevator, pressing a button that read 'B'.

'B' apparently stands for basement because when the door open, we find ourselves in a large, dim lighted room with boxes stacked to the ceiling and other miscellaneous things thrown about. Haymitch claps his hands twice and the lights in the room flash on, momentarily blinding me. "We are we?" Gale asks, blinking his eyes to try to adjust to the light.

"The basement. This use to be where the tributes would train but they use it for storage now." He takes out a small stopwatch out of his pocket, turning to me with a smirk. "Alright sweetheart, when I say go I want you to run as fast as you can, got it?" I nod, a smile slowing spreading across my face as I'm practically jumping up and down, finally ready to showcase the one thing that I can do without Mays instruction, the one thing that I'm naturally good at. I position my feet to run, my body lurching forward, adrenaline coursing through my body. "Go!" I hear Haymitch yell and I propel my feet forward, sprinting as fast I can. I hear somebody mutter something and I hear Haymitch laugh but I'm too busy to check. I feel something wiz pass my head and I turn my head around to see Haymitch and Gale grinning, throwing small styrofoam balls at me. I laugh, running faster, dodging the balls flying at me. The balls' attack suddenly cease and I relax slightly, before I see Gale coming out of nowhere five feet in front of me, running towards me. Instead of changing paths, I run straight for him and just as he brings his arm down to grab me, I jerk down, falling to the ground and doing a shoulder roll away from him before standing up and taking off again, all in one fluid motion. I hear Haymitch laugh again, shouting my name. "Alright sweetheart! That's enough for now!"

Still grinning I jog back to where he and Effie stand, Gale trailing after me. I cross my arms, narrowing my eyes at them, "What was with the flying balls?"

"If you can dodge a ball, you can dodge a knife." Haymitch said with a smirk. I guess he logic makes sense, but I think he and Gale had too much fun throwing things at me.

"So, how did I do?" I asks, trying not too look too smug and apparently failing miserably since Haymitch laughs loudly, throwing his head back.

"You really are just like her! But I think you might even be faster than she was." I grin up at him and he smiles back at me. "Come on, you both need your rest for tomorrow."

We all step back into the elevator, Effie beginning her useless prattle again. "You were amazing dear! Of course ladies should never run like that, unless the situation calls for it." I nod in agreement, even though I'm really not paying any attention. Gale is sandwiched next to me, looking at me with an odd expression. When we get to our floor, Effie and Haymitch bid us good night and I head back to my room.

"Madge?" I turn around to see Gale standing closer to me than excepted, my breath hitches as he leans down closer to me. "Have a good night."

"You too." I say smiling. When I reach my room I close my door softly, leaning against it with a smile on my face.

"You have a good evening?" I look up to Mays sittig on my bed, smirking at me.

I sigh, " You have no idea."

* * *

"Wakey wakey! Time to rise and-hey!" May's yelps as I hurl my pillow at her.

"Shut up May!" She laughs, jumping on my bed. I groan, throwing my arm over my eyes. Mays kept me up again, practicing with the knife and going through my routine for the private training sessions.

"Let's go sleepy bones! Or do you want Effie to wake you?" I groan, rolling off the bed and huffing to the dining room.

Breakfast goes relevantly smooth, Effie stays remotely quiet and me and Gae stuff ourselves on the rich food. When done in the meal, Haymitch asks us between swigs of coffee, "What do you have planned for the training session?"

Gale shrugs, grabbing a biscuit from the table. "Make some snares, show them my skills at archery."

"You should lift some weights too." I say without thinking. Everyone turns to look at me and I blush, looking down. "You know, to show that you're strong too."

Haymitch nods, "Good idea. What do you have planned?"

"Throwing knives, obstacle course, archery."

"Good, make sure to show them how fast you are. Speed is essential in the arena." I nod once and he dismisses to get dressed. Mays is still sitting in the my bed and I fly past her, jumping into the shower. My hands are shaking hard and my head is spinning as I think about my private training session. The scores don't necessarily decide who's going to win, but it does help get sponsors and contrary to Gale's belief, I don't that I'll get any sponsors by getting a score of a two. And no sponsors means no extra food, weapons, medicine for wounds. Wounds. Oh, it'd be just my luck to get a huge gash on my forehead by running into a tree or something and end up bleeding out and dying from loss of blood. That would really be just my luck to die of something so stupid. I turn off the water, stepping out of the shower. I had hoped that the warm water would have calmed my nerves but now I'm shaking worse than ever. A pair brown pants and a green tunic have been laid out on my bed and I put on the clothes quickly, my hands still shaking.

"Madge, you need to relax. You'll be fine." Mays gets up off my bed and grabs my mockingjay pin off the dress that I wore the night before. She smiles slightly, pining it to my shirt and touching my cheek sweetly. "For luck." The same words she said to me right before the Reaping. I smile at her and she wraps her arms around me, encasing me in her peppermint scent. She walks with me down the hall, disappearing right before we reach the elevators. Effie and Haymitch stand near the elevator, Effie smiling down at me half-hearted.

"I'm sure you'll do fantastic!" I smile at her, as Gale walks in, dressed again in identical clothing.

"Let's get this over with." He mutters, standing next to me. Haymitch and Effie give us a few more words of advice before shoving us into the elevator. May appears again once we step off onto our floor, gently rubbing my arm. Since the training sessions begin during lunch Gale and I go to a couple more stations, first trying out making different types of fishing hooks, something that both Gale and I are relevantly good at. Next we go the shelter making station, and I notice the little girl from District Eleven again. She sits very close to me as I try to follow the trainer's instructions and I catch her staring at my pin with her innocent, wide, brown eyes. I smile at the child and she hesitantly returns it, quickly looking away from me. Lunch is called and we all head into the cafeteria to wait for out turns with the Gamemakers. As I sit next to Gale I see Cao looking at me from the corner of my eye. I turn away from him, focusing on my food.

"Listen, when you go in there, you need to get angry. Remember how you were yesterday when Gale said that it was just a lucky shot? You got mad and you were absolutely lethal. So right before you start, think of something, anything that gets you that angry again and then start, got it?" I don't like her suggestion, it seems wrong somehow but I give her a tiny nod anyway, she knows more about this than I do. Soon they begin to call people into their private sessions, first the boy from One, then the girl from One, the boy from Two and so on. Before long, little Rue is being called in and Gale and I are left alone. His hand finds mine and he loops his fingers around mine, squeezing gently. I smile at him, returning the squeeze. "Your hands are shaking."

I nod, my cheeks coloring slightly. "Yeah, they do that when I'm nervous."

"Don't be nervous, you'll do fine. Besides it's not like these scores even matter." I nod again, even though I know he's just saying that to calm me down. Too soon their calling his name and I release his hand as he stands.

"Good luck." I tell him with a small smile.

He smirks at me, the same arrogant smirk that he always has at school, "Don't need it, but thanks. Good luck to you too."

He turns to leave, but just before he opens the door I yell out, " Thanks, but I don't need it!" He chuckles a little before going into his private training session. Maysilee sits down in his spot, holding my hand lightly. We don't speak since these probably cameras around, but it's nice just knowing she's here. That I'm not in this by myself. A few minuets later they call my name over the intercom and I rise, Mays giving me a tiny hug from behind as I walk to meet the Gamemakers.

Their drunk. Or at least on their way to being drunk, but honestly I'm not surprised, having had many Capitol citizens staying in my home I know that they lose interest rapidly and I know that by now they have sat through twenty three other demonstrations and all they want is to go home. Still, I walk to the center of the room, facing them before introducing myself, "Margret Undersee, District Twelve." I jogged over to where the knives where, pulling two of the dummies to the center of the room and selecting a few knives. I took a deep breath and looked up to see them all staring at me in absolute boredom. And it makes me furious. It makes me so angry that they can sit up there in comfort, never having to worry about their children being reaped, never having to worry about their friends and family dying of starvation. I see Maysilee in the corner of the room and her words echoes in my ears, _Right before you start, think of something, anything that gets you that angry again and then start. _I look back at the first dummy that stands in front of me, and instead of seeing the painted on generic face, I see the face of the fat, pale faced Gamemaker that sits with the others on the balcony, looking at me in complete boredom. And I lose it. I throw the knife in my hand with deadly accuracy, the knife plunging itself into the heart of the dummy. I grab another knife from behind me and spin back around, watching the knife disappear into the dummy's flesh. I throw another, cutting the bag that holds the dummy upright, doing a shoulder roll and coming up to throw a long sharp knife into the heart of the second dummy. I sprint to the other side of the room and throw my last knife, it hitting its mark straight into its neck. Sprinting back to the weapons I select a beautifully carved wood bow and arrows, the same ones I practiced with yesterday. And even though I practiced with them for less than an hour, I still string the arrow and pull back the string in one fluid motion, aiming it at the dummy's head. I look up at the Gamemakers and see a tall, black-haired one, looking down at me in mildly interest. He's the head Gamemaker, I can just tell by how he holds himself, and I imagine him thinking up all kinds of different mutations to torment me with, I imagine him sending a pack of mutated animals to chase after me and destroy me in my sleep. I imagine him sending a flock of candy cane pink birds to kill my aunt and I release the arrow into the dummy skull. I release arrow after arrow into the dummy's body, moving farther away from it. I sprint across the obstacle course, I climb the rope climb like a pro. I grab more knives and launch them into the dummy. I throw my last knife and watch with grim satisfaction as it sinks into the dummy' heart once again. I'm sweating and panting as I stand and watch the Gamemakers expressions. Their staring at me in utter shock, many of their mouths hanging wide open, others have their wine glasses frozen half way to their mouths, a huge roasted pig lays forgotten in the center of the table. I'm breathing hard now as I turn to look at the dummy laying in the center of the room. It has daggers and knives and arrows sticking out every which way, and I suddenly feel like I'm going to throw up. _Did I really do all that?_ I know I should feel proud or something but I all I can feel is nauseous.

"Thank you Miss Undersee." The man with the black hair says and I give them a small bow before going into the elevator. I'm able to hold back the tears just long enough for the doors to close.

**Love it? Hate it? Please review :D I know I made Madge go a little crazy but she's stressed out about dying so give her a break haha. Alright al reviews get a kiss from Peeta/Gale/Finnick/Darius ;) Love you all!**


	7. Gowns of Flame

**Ahhhhh! I'm sorry guys I can't believe this took me so long to write, but yay for the longest chapter yet! Hope you guys like it :) thanks to everyone who reviewed! Love you guys! Enjoy!**

_Chapter 7_

By the time I reach level twelve, I'm a puddle on the floor. The tears come on their own accord as I sob on the elevator floor. I can faintly hear Maysilee saying something reassuring to me, gently rubbing my back, encasing me in her pepperminty scent. When the doors open with a small ding noise I look up to see Gale pacing in front of the elevator doors just like he was yesterday. But today the scowl on his face is replaced by a look of anxiety. He turns when he hears the door open and his eyes widen as he looks at my tear-streaked face. He moves like he's going to embrace me but I dart out of the elevator and down the hall before he has the chance. "Madge! What happened!" I ignore him, closing the door to my room, latching the small lock into place before curling up into a ball on the foot of my bed. A second later I hear a pounding on the door and I flinch as Gale's asks again and again what went wrong. Because nothing did, in fact, go wrong. I impressed the Gamemakers, I didn't miss not one target, I was perfect. Which is exactly what is wrong. Seeing that dummy with arrows and knifes gutting out of it, in that one moment it all became too real. And it wasn't even the realization that in three days I'm going to be in an arena fighting for my life, because if that was my realization than me sobbing on the floor would at least be logically. But, no, what left me in a pool of tears was the realization that I did _that. _That I _could_ do that. Most other tributes in my place would have been proud that they could throw a knife into a dummy's heart from across the room but just thinking about it makes me want to scream. I turned into a monster in there, letting my rage out onto the stuffed dummy, pretending it was the Gamemakers instead. I'm not a bloodthirsty Career, I don't have deadly aim, I'm not lethal. Yet today I was. And it sickens me.

"You need to calm down."Mays says rubbing my back again.

" I can't."I say between sobs.

"I'm sorry," she says after a minute, " I shouldn't have told you to get angry like I did, I just wanted you to get a good score."

I nod, trying to force myself to breathe, "Not your fault. I'm sorry I'm acting like this."

She snorts, patting my head, " You not even half as bad as I was when I came back from my private session. I wasn't as good at you at, well at pretty much everything, but I did manage to throw a dagger into the dummy's heart. I cried for hours. So believe me when I say, I get it." We sit in silence for a moment, me crying quietly, her rubbing my back. When the tears begin to cease, she starts humming softly. I hum along with her, our voices intertwining with one each other. I don't know how long we sit there but before too long I hear the unmistakable sound of heels of hard wood floors heading towards my room.

"Madge! Dinner's in half an hour!"

Since I know she won't go away unless I respond I say, "Alright, thank you Effie." May pats my back, motioning for me to go take a shower and I sigh once, rolling up off my bed. I grimace as I look at my reflection, my eyes red and swollen, my hair in disarray. I strip out of my sweaty clothes and walk into the shower, relishing in it's warm water. I stay in there longer than I should because I hear Mays tell me more than once that I'm going to be late for dinner. When I can't procrastinate any longer I step out of the shower onto the heat pad that blows hot air up, immediately drying me off. Usually I prefer to just dry myself off with a towel because my skin always feels weird and tingly if I use the mat but May is rushing me so I comb my hair quickly and walk back to where my closet is, throwing on a navy blue skirt and a white blouse. I pin on the mockingjay pin and find Mays looking at me oddly. "What?"

She shakes her head, "Nothing, I just know that your mother probably needs me right now but I don't want to leave you." I wave my hand, motioning her to go and she smiles at me slightly, pecking my on the cheek before leaving again. I walk down to the dining room and find that everybody has arrived, including Cinna and Portia. Cinna smiles at me and I return it, happy to see him again. I sit down next to Cinna, across from Gale and I see him raise an eyebrow at me. A silent question to what happened earlier but I just look down at my soup and try to avoid everyone's gaze. The adults talk for a bit, and while Gale says a few comments here and there I stay silent. When the main course is being severed Haymitch says, "Okay, enough small talk, how'd you do today?" I stiffen and am immediately grateful when Gale jumps in.

"Like it even matters, they were drunk off their asses when I walked in there. They were signing some damn drinking song or something. I made a couple snares, used the bow and arrow and threw a couple heavy objects till they dismissed me." I glance up at him as I hear the barley contained anger in his voice and I'm honestly surprised that he didn't do something drastic, like shot an arrow at them or something.

"And you sweetheart?" Haymitch asks, clearly more interested in my answer than Gale's.

I shrug, looking down again. "I did good, I think."

"Well, what you do?"

" Knives mostly. I used the bow and arrow too, ran for a bit. I did the rope climb."

Effie looks at me oddly, "But why were you crying then?"

I stare at her before turning and glaring at Gale. He shakes his head, "Hey, I didn't tell her anything."

"I heard you crying. Did you hurt yourself dear?" My cheeks turn about a hundred different shades of red and I shake my head no.

"I didn't hurt myself. I just-I used one of the dummies for practice. Two of them actually, and after I was done I looked at them and it-it- I guess-I don't know." I finish lamely, my cheeks burning.

"It was too real." I turn to see Haymitch staring at me, a small smirk on his face, "You're too much like her sweetheart. You're starting to become predictable." He laughs slightly and I for some reason I laugh with him. I guess it's true that I'm allot like Maysilee, and not just appearance wise. "Well scores only matter if they're very good or very bad, nobody really cares about the ones in the middle, so as long as you two didn't score ones, you'll be fine." I smile, relaxing a little at his words and finishing eating my dinner. After we're all done, Effie shoos us into the room with the television again to watch the scores. I sit down on the sofa next to Gale and his fingers immediately intertwine with mine and I try to hold back my smile as the program begins. The boy tribute from each district is shown first, then the girl tribute, their picture flashes onto the screen and underneath their picture will be their score. The tributes from One, Marvel and Glimmer, both get nines, Cato and Clove receive tens, the boy from 3 receives a four, and the girl gets a three, Ronan gets an eight and Marina gets a nine and the boy and girl from District Five both receives fives in their training scores. I tune out a little bit, just watching as the numbers flash by the screen, a nine for the girl from District Seven, a ten for Thresh, the boy from District Eleven and a seven for little Rue. My grip tightens on Gale's hand as his picture flickers on the screen for a moment before the number nine flashes under it. Everyone congratulates him and I see him smiling slightly. Effie hushes us as my picture comes on the screen and I hold my breath until I see the blinking ten underneath my name. Ten! I stare at the screen in shock as Haymitch laughs loudly and Cinna and Portia squeal besides me.

"But-but that impossible! How could I have gotten a ten?" I turn to Gale and his face is set in stone.

"I knew you had it in you sweetheart!" Haymitch laughs again, engulfing me into a hug. "Way too show 'em Mays!"

He freezes, looking down at me apologetically, but I'm in too good of a mood to be upset at his switch up. Instead I laugh and say, "Why, thank you Mitch!" He gawks at me before irrupting into a fit of laughter. I grin and soon everybody is laughing along with us, even Effie is giggling in the corner. I turn back to Gale but find his seat empty and I politely excuse myself to try to go find him. I knock on his door but he's not in his room, so I walk down the hall to the stairway that leads to the roof, thinking he probably went outside for some fresh air. "Madge!" I jump, almost falling on my bottom, and turning to glare at Haymitch. He chuckles again and hugs me once more. "God, you just like her. I'm bringing you home, Madge."

I've been meaning to talk to Haymitch, and now seems about a good as time as any. "Listen, I don't want you just to help me in there. Gale needs your help too so I want-"

"There can only be one victor. And it's going to be you." My head begins to ache as I think about what he means by that.

"You have to help him too Haymitch! I want you to promise that you'll try just as hard to get him home as you will to get me home." I stand up tall, hoping to make him see logic but I find him staring at me in disbelief before bursting out in laughter.

"I can't believe it! You actually are in love with  
that dumbass!"

I blush scarlet, my eyes darting to the floor, "No I'm not! I just don't think it would be fair for you to only help me."

He laughs again, "You're _too_ much like her! Willing to sacrifice everything for some guy that isn't worth it! You're coming home, I promised her I would bring you home."

I glare at him, " She wouldn't ask you to promise that!"

"I promised I'd try! And God damn I'm not going to break another promise to her!" The laughter is gone from his face, his nostrils flare and his cheeks are flushed red.

"Well I won't try. I'll just give up the minute I step foot in that arena unless you promise to help him too."

He scoffs, "You really think you're going to blackmail me with your life to get me too help that moron? He's not worth is Madge!"

"Stop Haymitch." I twirl around to see Maysilee standing behind me, her eyes boring into Haymitch's. "She's right, it wouldn't be fair."

His expression softens and he suddenly looks younger, less sullen, almost at peace. "Mays," he says gently, more gently than I could imagine, " You don't understand, there can only be one winner and I can't help them both, I have to chose one."

She shakes her head, "No, try to help them both, believe me, it'll work out. You just have to believe me Mitch." I've seen Maysilee be sweet, I've seen her be enraged, but I've never seen her look at anyone like she looks at Haymitch. And I've never seen him look at anyone like he's looking at her.

"I trust you." He says and she smiles at him. He smiles back before looking back at me, "Alright here's the deal, I help the both of you as best as I can if you stay as far away from him as you can."

"What! Why?"

His eyes harden, turning a darker shade of grey, "Because he'll be the end of you. Believe me Madge, stay away from him. Love has no place in the arena." I turn to Mays to help her make Haymitch see reason but she doesn't say anything, just stares at Haymitch, a small sad smile on her face. Not able to take another second of their confusing dynamics, I retreat to the roof, sprinting up the stairs and out into the fresh air. Just like I thought, Gale paces the length of the roof, muttering to himself.

"Congratulations."

He turns around and eyes me carefully, trying to decide if I'm being sarcastic or not. "Really Gale, congratulations, a nine, that's pretty impressive." I smile to let him know I'm being sincere but he doesn't return the smile.

"A ten, not bad yourself." He spits the words at me and I try not to flinch away. "Guess all those piano skills finally paid off huh?"

I want to scream. I want to yell at him to stop being such a jerk, that I am in the same exact boat he is, but I don't. Instead I ask him as calmly as I can, " Are you really that mad that I outscored you in training?"

Gale glowers at me, "You are the mayor's daughter. You've lived a life of luxury, I've slaved to support my family since I was fourteen! It took me months to get a good snare, it take you less than half an hour. It took me years to be as good at archery as I am, and you become an expert in a matter of minutes. You're the one that's supposed to be in a corner somewhere crying your eyes out because you can't throw a knife but instead you're now the girl to beat. You make fires and snares and throw a dagger straight into a dummies heart without even breaking a sweat. You're not supposed to be good at this stuff! You not supposed to be a survivor when your entire life has been handed to you on a silver platter! And you the hell is Mays!?" I start, completely confused at how we got from him yelling at me about training to my aunt.

"Um, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh don't give that bullshit! Haymitch has been calling you Maysilee, Mays and May ever since we boarded the train. And it's obviously somebody you know, since every time it happens you freeze up! So who the hell is she?"

I don't have to tell him. I don't owe him anything, especially after I just convinced Haymitch to help him in the Games. The night sky is getting darker by the minuet, but it still is illuminated by the city lights of the Capitol. I hold my hand up to the force field, feeling the sharp electric zap of it against my skin. I turned away from Gale, but I can still see him out of the corner of my eye, his face still pulled down in a frown. I look out into the city as I start to speak. "She's my aunt. Or was my aunt at least, my mother's identical twin sister. She was reaped into the 50th Hunger Games with Haymitch. They became allies a little less than halfway through the Games, when she saved him from a group of Careers. Obviously she didn't make it out, the Gamemakers killed her with a flock of mutated birds just after she broke off her alliance with Haymitch because she didn't want it to came down to the two of them. Haymitch heard her screaming and he got there just in time to watch her die. He held her hand as she died." I pause, tears in my eyes as I think about Haymitch watching the light fade from my aunt's face. "They were knew each other before the games. Haymitch, my mom, Maysilee, they were all friends when they were kids. I look allot like her, that's why he mixes up my name with hers. I think Haymitch still blames himself for not saving her." My voice cracks and I feel the tears threatening to spill over. I look at Gale and find him staring at me, a peculiar look on his face. I take his expression to be one of worry and quickly turn my head away, back to the city. My voice is ice as I tell him, "You don't have to worry about that, I made Haymitch promise to help you in the arena too." He doesn't say anything and we stand in silence for a moment before I feel Gale's hand on my arm, gently turning me towards him. I don't fight him, but I keep my head down, staring at the ground.

"Madge look at me. " I keep my eyes on the floor and I feel him cup him hand under my chin, gently nudging it up. I comply, but shut my eyes tight before he can force me to look at him. "Open your eyes." I shake my head, and he brings his hand to my cheek, softly caressing my face. "Please." In my entire life I have never heard Gale Hawthorne ask for anything and I open my eyes to see his face just inches away from mine. "You really think that I was worrying about myself?" I nod once and he shakes his head sadly. "No, of course not. God, I can't imagine that, somebody from my own family being reaped, I'm sorry." He pulls me too him and I oblige, pulled into his surprising warm embrace. His arms wrap around me and I lean into him, wrapping my arms around his waist and shutting my eyes tight. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea. And all those times that I told you that you have no chance of being reaped but your own aunt was reaped." He stops talking but he tightens him arms around me, and I've never felt more secure. Somehow or another we end up on the porch swing again, one of his arm wrapped tightly around my shoulder.

I lean into his side, he smells like the woods and coal. Like home. "My mom has headaches. You probably already know that, most of the District does, but they aren't normal migraines. They're much worse, she takes morphling to her pain but she's still so weak she can't even get out of bed most days."

Gale laces the fingers of his free hand with mine, squeezing gently. I smile slightly, returning the squeeze. "Do you think it has anything to do with losing your aunt in the Games?"

I nod, "Yes, a few months after that was when they first started. They weren't that bad in the beginning, but they got worse. When Maysilee died in the Games, I think apart of her died too. They were twin sisters, they had always been together, and then suddenly one is gone and I think that that took apart of my mom with her." We don't talk after that, after a while I start humming quietly to myself.

"That's a pretty song. I've heard you hum it before. Does it have any words?" It does, but I don't think that now would be a good time to teach Gale a rebellious tune so I shake my head no. he think for a second, "I think I might have heard it before though. I don't really remember." He picks at the hem of my shirt sleeve and I start humming again. The night slowly gets colder but neither of us move, Gale just pulls me closer to him which I happily oblige to. I rest my head on his shoulder, breathing in the smell of pine needles and burnt coal and for the first time since Effie called my name, I'm actually happy.

* * *

"Um, Madge? Maaaaaaaadge. Madge!" I start awake, my eyes flashing open. Mays is standing above me, a huge grin on her face.

"Ugh, go away." I tell her, nestling my face into the soft, warm pillow under me.

She laughs, "Well, maybe you should wake up before Effie finds you and Gale snuggled up on the porch swing." My head snaps up, looking up to see Gale's sleeping face. Somehow in the night, Gale ended up on his back and I ended up laying on Gale's chest and someone had draped a blanket around us. I blush about ten shades of red and Maysilee laughs again.

"What time is it?" I hiss at her, not wanting to wake Gale.

"Just after six in the morning. And don't worry, I'm the one that put the blanket on you two last night. Can't have my niece getting frostbite now can we." She winks at me and I try to scowl at her but wind up blushing even harder. I look back up at Gale and motion for Mays to go. She smiles wide, winking at me again before disappearing.

"Gale? Um, Gale?" I poke his shoulder, and he groans, stretching his arms out before tightly wrapping his arms back around me, rolling over and dropping the blanket on the floor. He clutches me to his chest like a child would to a stuffed animal and I'm so very tempted to just lay in this form of heaven and go back to sleep, but I know that sooner or later Effie will came looking for us and I figure that I'd rather deal with Gale's slight embarrassment at me waking him than him throwing Effie off the roof for baring witness to our sleeping arrangement. "Gale?" I poke his shoulder again, a little rougher this time, and his eyes flutter open. I give him a small embarrassed smile and he smiles sleepingly at me, nuzzling his face in my neck.

"Good morning Madge." His body tenses as soon as my name is out of his lips and his head flips up to look at my very, very red face. He eyes widen as they take in our position, him basically laying onto of me, crushing me to his chest. His arms immediately go limp and I almost fall out of the swing. His arm swoops down to catch me just as I grab a hold of his shirt to hoist me up. Our faces our inches apart again and I swear I see his face turn red as we start to untangle ourselves from one another.

Gale helps me to my feet and once we're both standing I stutter out, "S-sorry."

He shakes his head, still unable to look me in the face, "Not your fault, you feel asleep on me and I was going to wake you but I guess I fell asleep too." He gives me an embarrassed smile and I return it, blushing more than I thought possible. We walk down back down stairs and I smile at him as he disappears into his room with a "See you at breakfast."

Back in my room, Mays is waiting for me on my bed, sitting cross-legged and grinning at me. "Shut up." I growl at her, my cheeks still burning.

She gives me an innocent look, "But I didn't say anything." I grab a pillow and try to whack her with it, but she easily dodges it. She grabs a throw pillow off the foot of my bed and smacks me on the head with it. I swing my pillow again at her, and this time actually hit her. She laughs, raising her pillow again, "Oh it's on!" She whacks her pillow across my face and I stand up on the bed, swinging my pillow at her. She stands up too and soon it's an all out war. Her pillow collides with my face as I whack her on the side of the head, both of us erupting with laughter. My side begins to ache as the laughs keep rolling out of me, and I collapse on the bed in a fit of defeat.

"You win May! You win, I surrender."

She laughs and bounces down next to me. "Of course I won."Our giggles finally clam down and she brushes strands of hair off my face. I close my eyes as she starts humming,

_"That's a pretty song."_ Gale's words from early suddenly rush back to me as I hear Mays humming the same tune and a flood of emotions course through me. The way his arm felt around my shoulders, how warm his embrace was, the look on his face as he apologized to me. I don't realize that I'm crying until May pulls me into her arms.

"What happened?"

I shake my head, the tears rolling silently down my cheeks. "I don't know."

She sighs, stroking my hair, "I think you do. You're just afraid to admit it." Of course I'm afraid. What good would it do to admit something that could only cause you more pain? It's better just to ignore it and hope it goes away. "It won't go away Madge." I didn't know I had spoken aloud and I feel heat rising to my cheeks.

"What difference would it make?" I say defensively.

"It might help, just admitting it already, just saying it out loud." It won't though. Saying it out loud would only make it real, it would be admitting it when I have being fighting it for so long. "Madge?"

"How could it help Mays?" I ask defensively, jerking away from her and onto my feet. "What good would it do to admit that I love him when I know he doesn't feel the same way? And it doesn't even matter because in a matter of days we will be in an arena fighting for our lives! Don't you see, I _can't_ admit it, not even to myself!"

She smiles at me, " You just did." My cheeks burn red but I still glare at her as she continues smiling at me.

"You're in love with Haymitch." Her eyes widen at me, then narrow into blue slits.

"Leave it alone Madge."

"You tell me that it won't go away, you tell me, that it would help to admit it, but you can't even admit it to yourself!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" There's pain in her eyes and her whole face crumbles as I scowl at her. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

I sit on the floor next to the bed, my voice gentler when I tell her, "I see the way you look at him. And I see how he looks at you. You two were in love."

"Yeah, "she says, smirking slightly, "Something like that." The pain in her face slowly begins to fade and I feel awful for bringing Haymitch into this, I knew that he was a touchy subject.

"I'm worried about him."

Mays chuckles at that, giving me a sideways look, "Madge, I think Gale can handle himself."

"I mean in the interviews, he's not exactly a fan of the Capitol and I worry that it will be blatantly obvious in the interviews. I just wish that I could help him. I know what these people want." One of the many perks of living in the Mayor's Mansion is that there are often Capitol people staying at my house, which means that I've grown accustomed to the way they think, what they want, how they like things to be done. And even though Gale is painstakingly handsome, they won't be easily charmed by his hard exterior. I chew on my bottom lip as my last conversation with Peeta comes rushing back to me,

_" If it was Katniss what would you do?" _

_"I don't know. I'd help her."_

_"How?"_

_He thinks for a second before smiling at me, "I'd make a scandal."_

A scandal, the one thing that all Capitol citizens love more than anything. At the time I had dismissed Peeta's words but now I truly consider them. I'm an excellent actress, yet another useful skill acquired by being the daughter of a mayor, but I've never been one for gossip, and having never started a rumor or scandal myself I'm having a bit of trouble thinking one up. I look at Maysilee, who's face still has traces of its prior sadness and suddenly I just know. "I should take a shower", I tell her rushing off into the bathroom to think over my master plan. The shower relaxes my nerves as I think about all the details. I decide that I better tell Haymitch and Mays since I'm probably going to need their input and I cringe as I think about explaining my plan to Haymitch. I turn off the shower, drying myself off and throwing a pair of black pants and a loose green shirt, pining my token to my shirt and brushing my teeth and hair. "What's the rush?" May says smirking at me.

I take a deep breath, steadying myself before I say, "I have a plan.

* * *

"Time for breakfast! It's a big, big day!" I sigh, opening the door and heading to the dining room. Mays didn't fight me as much as I thought she would, but she did disappear pretty quick after she agreed to it. Even with Maysilee on board, I know that it will take allot for Haymitch to consent with my plan. But with or without his help, I'm going through with it. Haymitch, Effie and Gale are already serving themselves from the massive breakfast buffet and I pile a stack of waffles and bacon onto my plate. "Alright, we're prepping you for the interviews today. We can coach you together again for this, or you can have two hours with each of us alone. Which do you prefer?"

"One on one," I just as Gale says, together. He gives me an odd look and I blush, "We'll be more productive if we are coached separately." He nods, but I can tell that he's not happy about it.

Haymitch looks surprised but carries on anyways, "Okay, you'll each get two hours with me and two hours with Effie. Sweetheart, your with me, Hawthorne have fun Effie."

Gale barely contains a groan and I giggle besides him. "I'll get you for this," he says trying to look menacing but the maple syrup on his cheek ruins the effect. I giggle again as I reach under the table to squeeze his hand, which he returns with just slightly more pressure than essay. Once breakfast is over Haymitch and I head over to the main room, and Effie takes Gale back to his room.

Haymitch just looks at me for a moment, and I squirm in my seat, "What?"

"Just trying to figure out what your angle should be. You could pull off allot and I'm trying to think of which one will work best for you."

"How about charming?" My head jerks up to see Mays appearing next to me.

Haymitch smirks, "Charming. I like it. You think you could pull it off sweetheart." I'm may be many things, but charming is not one of them, still I nod my head, just to see where this is going. He takes the roll of interviewer, asking me questions which I try to answer as charmingly as I can. At the end, Haymitch smiles, "Good, I think charming will work."

"She's not _just_ charming either, she comes off innocent too." May adds smiling at me.

Innocent isn't exactly what I think Capitol citizens look for in potential victors, but I think my ten in training will help even it out. "And very likeable, just easy to get along with," Haymitch says, smirking at Mays, " Which is funny considering who she's related too." May sticks you tongue out at him and he laughs at her antics. "Don't forget to bring up that you're the mayor's daughter, play that to your advantage, the Capitol citizens already like the idea of a daughter of a mayor going into the Games, it makes them feel like you're one of them." The mire thought that I'm anything like them makes my skin crawl but I know that he's right. "Alright any questions?"

I nod, "When your coaching Gale could yo-"

"No." He says before I can even finish my sentence, "Right now I'm helping you, and you cannot be worried about Gale."

"Haymitch please," I ask, widening my eyes and giving him the puppy dog face that almost always works on my parents and Mays. He sighs loudly, muttering about something before motioning me to continue. "I know that Gale is probably going to want to just work the hostile angle, answer with a yes or no, not really act like he gives a hoot, but I've spent time with Capitol citizens, I know that the hostile angle never really gains any of their favors, it's usually pretty flat and forgettable. If Gale has any hope of getting sponsors, he needs these people to like him," I say, echoing what he told me on the train when we first arrived. " I want you to try to get him to come out of his shell, to do any angle _other_ than hostile. He needs to be unforgettable." I take a deep breath, preparing myself for what's to come. "And I know just how to do that."

At first he laughs. Then he refuses. Then he yells. Then he laughs again. Then he out-right tells me no way in hell. "You honestly think I'm going to let you go through with this!"

"It's a good idea Mitch," Mays tells him, placing a hand on my shoulder. "It'll work."

He looks at both of us, before shaking his head and chuckling mildly, "You Donner women always get your way." May laughs along with him and I smile, thanking him for supporting my plan. "Your last name maybe Undersee," he says, shaking his head at me, " but you got the Donner way, stubborn as hell." Maysilee and Haymitch walk me through the interview again and again, both of them working together as they toss me question after question. If watching them together yesterday was odd, watching how they are today is plain out strange. Watching how they are around each other is just unnerving, how Haymitch catches Mays glance, how her eyes flutter downward, and I swear that her cheeks turn pink. And it's heartbreaking. It's so extremely obvious that they truly did, truly do love each other, yet they were forced apart by an untimely death, and even though they can still speak to each other, still see each other, I know it's not the same as watching each other grow old together. When my session with Haymitch is over, I walk back towards the dining room, but look back just before I leave the room. They're standing close to each other, Haymitch looking down at her, and Maysilee looking up at him with the tiniest saddest smile on her face. She wraps her arms around his waist and he holds on to her as if she is his life depended on it, burying his face in her hair. They stand like that for a moment before Mays pulls away, disappearing into the air. Haymitch closes his eyes, his face a picture of twenty-four years worth of regret and despair. I walk quickly out of the room, wanting to give him some time alone to recover before Gale goes in with him.

I wait at the dining table for Effie and Gale to arrive to make the switch and after a moment I see Gale stalking out of the room, scowling in irritation. "Fun times with Effie?" I ask, giggling at his expression.

He growls at me, "That was two hours of my life that I will never get back." I laugh, giving him a quick hug.

"Well, Haymitch was easy, so at least you get a bit of a break. Do you have an idea about your angle?"

He shrugs, "I don't know, I'll probably just ignore all the question he asks me and answer with a yes or no. Get it over with you know?"

I cringe, biting my lip as I look up at him. "I think you should go for something more, I don't know, nicer? These people need to like you Gale."

"I don't care if they like me."

"I know you don't but, just think about it okay? Please, just try something other than mean and angry. These people have stayed at my house Gale, I know what they like and what they don't like. They never pay much attention to the tributes' that just answer, yes and no to everything."

He looks at me for a second before nodding, "Alright, I'll think about it."

I smile, relived, "Thank you."

"Oh Madge! Come on back to your room and we'll get started!" Effie calls, waving me forward.

I suppress a groan, "Wish me luck."

"No, you deserve what you get." Gale says teasingly. I laugh a little, heading off to me room.

Once there, Effie dresses me in a floor length gown and seven inch high heels and tells me to walk around. Having to wear heels and gowns while attending events with my father, I pass Effie's heels test with flying colors. After that, she gives me a lesson in smiling, yet another perfected skill from being the daughter of a mayor, I learned how to fake a smile far too early in life. After smiling lesson is over, we go to the dining room to get lunch. Haymitch and Gale aren't present yet, and we begin without them. They don't show up by the time we are done with our food and Effie gives me a lesson on how to sit, stand, walk and talk like a proper lady. While the lessons are boring and tedious, I have to agree with Gale that this is torture. Even with Effie praising me on what a proper lady I am I keep wondering what any of this has to do with surviving the Hunger Games. Is the ability to walk in death-defying tall heels going to save me in the arena? The two hours are finally up and Effie dismisses me to get ready for dinner which will be served in an hour. Once alone in my room, I strip off the ridiculously long ball gown and heels, muttering to myself. "So had was lessons with Effie?" Mays asks, appearing on my bed.

I groan, flopping on the bed next to her, "That was agony. That woman never shuts up." Mays laughs, combing her fingers through my hair as I close my eyes, suddenly drained and exhausted. Mays lets me sleep for about half an hour before gently waking me up and telling me to head down for dinner. She kisses me on the cheek, disappearing again before I can even ask her to come to dinner with me. I guess spending any more time around Haymitch is too much for her. Dinner is spent with Effie blabbering again and Haymitch staring at his food. Gale doesn't look to be in too high of spirits and he keeps scowling in the general direction of Haymitch, Still when I squeeze his hand, he squeezes back so at least his anger is not directed at me.

"Can you meet me on the roof in half an hour?" Gale whispers in my ear when dinner is over. I blush, nodding once. I can only imagine what he wants to talk to be about, but frankly I could care less. Half an hour later, I climb up the stairs to the roof to find him already sitting on the swing, looking up at the stars.

"Hi." I say quietly, looking down at my feet.

He turns his head to me, smiling, "Hey." He jesters for me to join him and I sit down next to him on the swing, my cheeks flushing in color as I remember how his arms felt around me last night as I laid on his chest. His hand finds mine and we sit in comfortable silence for a moment before he say, "I thought you said Haymitch was easy. I swear I almost punched him right in that big mouth of his."

I laugh, knowing how much Haymitch gets on Gale's nerves and vice versa. "What happened?"

"We tried a bunch of different angles but none of them worked. He says I'm too surly."

"Well you are," he glares at me and I try not to laugh again. "What about…protective?"

He raises an eyebrow at me, "Protective?"

I nod, "Yeah, I don't mean in the defensive way, but, well, like you are with your family. Try to present that to them, make them see you as a family man who would do anything for them and would jump through fire to get home to them."

He thinks about it for a minute, tracing patterns the back of my hand again. "That's actually a good idea," he says sounding impressed.

I roll my eyes at him, "Yeah, I occasionally have one of those." He laughs and we go back to sitting in silence. When the night grows darker, we head back down to our rooms, Gale gives me a short hug, wishing me good night as I walk into my room. May is already there, a tiny small on her face. I return the smile, going to the mirror and practicing exactly what I'm going to say tomorrow. Haymitch and Maysilee spent nearly an hour helping me get just the right words, facial expressions and hand gestures to pull my plan off without a hitch. I practice till my jaw hurts from saying the words over and over again and soon lay down next to May on the bed, willing myself to get some rest, knowing fully well that everything changes tomorrow.

* * *

I wake up to my prep team hovering over me. Lessons with Haymitch and Effie are over. This day belongs to Cinna. My prep team wastes no time with formalities, they wash my body and my hair, scrub my face, turn my pale skin to glowing satin, stencil patterns on my arms, paint flame designs on my perfectly sculpted nails. Venia weaves strands of red into my hair, spritzing my hair with a spray that makes it shimmer and shine. They work on my face for more than an hour, creating huge striking blue eyes, full lips the color of a red rose and eyelashes that throw bits of light when I blink. It's late afternoon when they cover my entire body in a shimmer powder that makes my skin glisten in gold dust and pronounce that they have finished with me.

Cinna enters with my dress that is covered by a satin sheet and orders me to close my eyes. I obey, lifting, my arms as they slip the gown on over my body. It must weigh forty pounds and I clutch Octavia's hand as I step blindly into my shoes. Their at least two inches shorter than the ones Effie had me in, and much easier for me to maneuver. "Open." Cinna says, and I open my eyes to see a creature so beautiful that I cannot possible be me. My dress is covered entirely out of reflective gems, red, yellow and white with bits of blue that when I move even the slightest it seems as though I'm engulfed in flames. As I stare at myself in the mirror, Maysilee appears besides me, beaming up at me.

"You're radiant." She says, and my eyes begin to water.

"You don't like it?" Cinna asks, clearly alarmed by my reaction.

"Oh, Cinna I love it. Thank you." He grins at me, motioning for me to twirl. When I do the prep team explodes in squeals and Cinna quickly dismisses them. They each kiss my on the cheek, wish me luck before prancing out into the hall.

"All ready for the interview?" The way he says it, I know that he knows about my plan and that he's very concerned.

I give him a reassuring smile, "Yes, all set." He hugs me and goes to open the door but I stop him, suddenly terrified of being in front of the whole country.

Cinna takes my hand in his, smiling at me, "Remember, they already love you." I nod and he leads me out into the hall. We met everyone at the elevator, Gale looking striking in a black suit with flame accents. Effie is dressed to the nines and even Haymitch has gotten dressed up for the occasion. Effie showers us with complements and both me and Gale accept them graciously. When the elevator doors open, the tributes are being lined up to take their seats, Mays stands next to me and pats my shoulder reassuringly. Caesar Flickerman, the host of the interviews for more than forty years, bounces onto the stage. He tells a few jokes to warm up the audience then gets right down to business, calling up the girl from District 1. Glimmer waltzes onto the stage in a see-through gold gown, and her angle is clearly sexy.

"You guys kind of look alike." I look up to see Gale smiling down at me.

I glare at him, "Maybe if I were a floozy." Gale chuckles mildly and I resist the urge to stick my tongue out at him. My hands are shaking as the timer goes off for Glimmer's interview and I feel Gale's fingers grasp mine.

"You're going to be great." he tells me, squeezing my hand as the boy from One, Marvel reaches the stage.

I squeeze his hand back, "You too."

He snorts, "Doubt it, they'll probably forget about me the second I walk off stage." I bite my lip, looking down at my shoes, whishing he could know how impossible it will be to forget about either of us after I'm through.

The rest of the interviews blur by, Cato is ruthless, Marina is witty, the girl from Five is sly, the crippled boy from Ten is quiet. Rue bounces onto stage in a gossamer gown complete with wings that flutter as she walks to Caesar. He's very sweet to the child and when he asks how she got such an impressive score she says, "I'm very hard to catch and if they can't find me they can't kill me. So don't count me out."

Caesar smiles at her, "I wouldn't dream of it in a million years." The boy from District Eleven, Thresh is a giant of a teenager, at least six and a half feet tall, probably about two inches taller than Gale. Like me, he also rejected the Careers offer to join them and he showed very little interest at training, but he scored a ten and it's not hard to imagine how he impressed the Gamemakers. He ignores Caesar's attempt at banter and answers with a yes or no or simply remains silent. I look up at Gale, silently willing him not to follow Thresh's lead and to stick with being the protective big brother I know he is.

Then their calling Margaret Undersee and I stand up straight with confidence, throw on my most dazzling smile and walk gracefully over to Caesar. The crowd goes wild as they see me in my amazing dress and I mentally thank Cinna again for his creation. "Hello Margaret." Caesar says, shaking my hand.

"Hello, Caesar, please call me Madge." I say flashing him a smile.

"Well, the Capitol must be a big change from District 12. What's impressed you most since you arrived here?"

It's a question that Mays asked me yesterday in training with Haymitch and I smile as I say, "Well I have to say the showers. There's just too many buttons and I have no clue how to control them. This morning I sprayed myself in the eye with some sort of perfume. Tell me Caesar, do I still smell like strawberries?" The audience bursts into laughter as Caesar sniffs my outstretched arm.

"That you do! But I prefer the scent of lavender." He stretches out his arm and I take a whiff, smiling as the audience convulses with laughter. "So Madge," Caesar says after the laughter has died down, "what's a normal day for you back in District Twelve."

A normal day in District 12 is watching my father work to death, my mother waste away in her bedroom and children go for days without eating. But I can't say any of that so I smile and say, "I spend most of my time playing piano."

The audience oohs and ahhs at that, and Caesar smiles widely, "Now isn't that fun! You'll have to give me a private concert!"

My smile grows, "Of course. Though I must warn you I'm not nearly as good as my father." I cross my fingers under the folds of my dress, hoping that he'll take the bait.

"Oh your father," Caesar pauses dramatically, facing the crowd as he says, " the Mayor of District Twelve?" The audience starts cheering then as Caesar faces me again, "Your almost one of us!" The audience laughs again and I laugh along with them, although inside I'm screaming obscenities at them.

"Yes, we've always had Capitol guests staying at my house and I've always wanted to see it in person. But I must say this experience has surprised me."Experience, the only word that Mays and I could think of to describe these last days here.

Caesar tilts his head to the side, "Really? Such as?"

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to have such an amazing stylist." I find Cinna in the crowd a second before the camera does and the crowd cheers again as he gives them a little wave.

"Yes, your stylist surely is one of the best we've seen. When you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped. What did you think of that costume?"

I smile charmingly at him, "For starters, I was terrified of being turned into a human torch." Caesar and the audience laugh and I see Mays standing in the front row of the crowd smiling at me. "But after I got over that fear I thought he was an absolute genius

"He certainly out did himself tonight, what a marvelous dress!"

I give him a sly smile, " Oh you don't know the half of it Caesar." I stand up and twirl as I did for my prep team and Cinna. The bottom of my dress seems to be ablaze with fire, and the audience cheers and squeals in delight.

I stop twirling, grabbing onto Caesar's arm for support, "Oh that was fantastic! Don't stop!"

I giggle, "I can't I'm dizzy!"

Caesar grabs my hand as I return to my seat, "Don't worry I got you. So tell us Madge because we're all dying o know, how did you get such an impressive score in training?"

The mere mention of my private training session with the Gamemaker brings back the feeling of horror as I stared at the what had done to the dummy but I smile mysteriously, "Oh Caesar you know that's a secret."

"Come on, just one little detail! You're killing us."

I laugh, patting his shoulder good-naturedly as he pouts at me, "Sorry, my lips are sealed."

"Well than, tell us, other than playing piano what do you do for fun back home?"

This question catches me off guard for some reason and I answer honestly, "I go to the bakery."

Caesar laughs, "The bakery? If I had your figure I'd go there every day too!" The crowd laughs and I quickly join in.

"I don't go for the sweets, I'm friends with the baker's son."

"Friends huh?" Caesar raises an eyebrow, smiling teasingly at me, "Are you sure he's not a _boyfriend_ ?"

I scrunch up my nose, shaking my head furiously and the audience erupts in a fit of laughter. "Oh Caesar, no! He's practically my brother!"

Caesar and the audience laughs and when they calm down again he asks the question I've been waiting for him to asks, the question that I practiced answering two dozen times in the mirror, "Do you have a special someone waiting for you back home?"

I bite my lip, looking down in fake embarrassment, shaking my head unconvincingly. "A beautiful girl like you, there must be some special young lad, come on tell us her name."

I sigh, "There is one boy. I've like him for years, but I doubt if he ever once thought of me before the reaping." I'm still biting my lip, my eyes shyly downward. Sounds of sympathy echoes across the crowd, relating with my unrequited love.

"He have another girl?"

Looking back at Caesar I shake my head sadly, "I don't know, but there are always allot of girls around him." I avert my eyes, as if I'm to heart-stricken to look at Caesar anymore and the crowd wails their sympathies. Out of the corner of my eye I see Gale staring at me, an odd look on his face.

"So here's what you do. You win, you go home. He can't turn you down then, eh?" Caesar says encouragingly.

I tear my eyes from Gale's, looking up at Caesar. I take a quick breath, steadying my resolve. I take a quick glance up at the crowd, each one of them hanging off the edge of their seat. "You see Caesar, I don't think that that plan will work for me. Winning, it-it won't help in my case."

"Why ever not?" Caesar asks bewildered.

My cheeks burn red as I think about my parents' watching this with the rest of Panem. I stutter out the words that I practiced saying in the mirror the night before, "Be-because he came here with me."

**Okay so what you think? I tried to make Madge's interview different from Katniss' and Peeta's but there is allot of overlap, sorry guy :/ Also, I had a hard time deciding if Madge should get a better score than Gale or if he should get a better score but I decided to give her the better one since she went kinda nut-zo in there and Gale just made a couple snares. P.S. I HAVE NO INTENTION ON MAKING MADGE PERFECT AT EVERYTHING, BELIEVE ME SHE WILL BE BAD AT MANY, MANY THINGS TO COME. I know a couple people were worried about that but I assure you she will be awful at some things just wait :) Please Review! Reviewers get a kiss from Gale/Peeta/Finnick/Darius/(INSERT NAME OF HUNKY HUNGER GAMES CHARACTER HERE) lol thanks guys! Love ya!**


	8. Reactions and Over Reactions

**Hey everyone! I'm done with all my finals YAY! First year of college is official complete :) and I donated 10 inches of my hair to Locks of Love! It's so short now but its a good cause! Alright enough about me, here the new chapter! Enjoy:D**

_**Chapter 8**_

Silence. Absolute silence. The cameras are still trained on my face as it turns a deeper shade of red, all of Panem staring at me in slight bewilderment. I take a risky glance toward Gale and find him gaping at me, looking as if he's still trying to comprehend my words. And then it starts. The shouts and cries as the crowd goes crazy at my declaration of love for my fellow tribute. Caesar is staring at me as if trying to figure out what to say in response. The giant television screen has spilt the screen between me and Gale, me looking down, my cheeks glowing crimson, and Gale looking at his lap, his expression utterly confused.

"Well, that's a toughie." Caesar finally says something, looking at me tragically.

I nod, still biting my lip, "It's not ideal."

"And he didn't know?"

I shake my head, knowing that my cheeks are continually getting darker. "Not until now."

"Well, I think I speak for all of Panem when I say our hearts go out to you." A few people from the crowd shout out heartfelt sentiments and I give Caesar a tiny, sadden smile.

"Thank you Caesar."

Caesar gives me a sympathetic smile just as the buzzer goes off to signal the end of my interview. "Best of luck to you, Madge." He turns back to the audience, "Madge Undersee, District Twelve!" The applause is deafening as I stand to walk back to my seat, people screaming my name and clapping so hard I wonder how it doesn't hurt their hands. The applause still continues as I sit down, and I see some of the other tributes glaring at me, no one else got as much applause as I got. I peek at Gale out of the corner of my eye and I try to hold back my flinch as I see him looking as ridged as a board. I can only imagine how much he hates me right now, especially because in about thirty seconds he will be called up for the interview and no doubt he'll be asked about his feelings towards me. I just hope the audience doesn't pick up how much he despises me in this very moment. Caesar calls Gale's name and he walks stiffly to the stage, still looking vaguely dazed.

"So Gale, that must have been quite a shock to you, finding out the feelings of your fellow tribute. "

"Tell me about it." The crowd giggles a little and my eyes widen as Gale visibly relaxes in his chair, the picture of ease.

"And what do you think of her?"

He pauses and the crowd goes still, my heart racing in my chest. "I think she's smart. Smarter than she thinks she is. She's funny, but only when she doesn't try. She's braver than she believes she is and she's annoying as hell, I swear that girl couldn't fail at something if she wanted to." He says the last part with a teasing smile and the audience laughs enthusiastically.

"Did you ever have hint of her feelings when you were in District 12?"

Gale shakes his head, "Not at all, we had a mutual friend but that was it. Although I think my brother might hate me right now," he smirks slightly, "he had a pretty big crush on her." The crowd laughs and I blush, hoping that he's lying about Rory's crush on me and that Caesar will take the opening to steer Gale to the topic of his family.

"Is that so? Your youngest brother?"

"Second youngest brother, Rory. He was talking about nothing else for a straight year that didn't have to do with Madge. He spent a week trying to describe the color of her hair to our little sister." The crowd laughs again and I can't help but smile, he's doing amazing.

"Now, you're the oldest correct?"

He nods, "Yes, oldest of four, two brothers and our little sister."

"And your father died when you where quite young?"

My hands form into fists, I can't believe that Caesar really brought up Gale's father. Gale nods once, his face suddenly closed off as the crowd yells out their sympathies.

"Yes, I had to grow up pretty fast. I try to help my mom the best I can."

Caesar nods, his face dismayed, "That must have been very difficult. Can you tell us a little bit about your family?"

Gale's face lights up as he starts, "Well there Rory, he's six years younger than me. He's the biggest pain I've ever met, way too smart for his own good." Gale smiles as he talks about his brother, the love evident in his face, "he can convince anyone to do anything, and I'm probably going to have to lock him up in a closet when he becomes a teenager." Caesar and the audience laugh and I bite my tongue to hold back my grin. "Vick is two year younger than Rory, he's the quiet one, but only if he doesn't know you. Once you get to know him, there's no shutting him up." Another laugh from the audience. "Than there's Posy. She's the only girl and she's the baby of the family so we spoil her rotten. If she were to wake up at three in the morning, asking for a story, there's no way any of us could deny her." A few people in the audience actually let out aww's at Gale description of his baby sister.

"You must love them very much. What did they tell you at the goodbyes?"

Gale face grows somber, "They all told me they love me. Posy didn't really know what was going on, she just thought I was going to be on television. Vick told me not to shoot myself in the foot with an arrow." A few people laugh but most remain salient as Gale pauses over his last sibling's words, "Rory made me promise not to hurt Madge."

The cameras whirl back to me and I quickly duck my head down to hide my features. "And what did you say?"

"I promised I would. I would never have been able to hurt her anyways."

It goes stark quiet again as Caesar leans forward, "Because of your brother?"

Gale shakes his head, "No, not because of that."

"Than why?" I pick my head up just enough to see Gale purposely turn his head to face me, his expression unreadable. He takes a deep breath to respond just as his buzzer goes off. The crowd groans in disapproval but Caesar graciously wishes Gale luck and announces him as the male tribute to Panem. Gale nods his head coming back to his seat the crowd applauses him. He doesn't look at me as we stand as the anthem plays, but I know that all eyes on us. When the anthem ends, the Capitol seal appears on the screen to tell everyone that the show is over.

The tributes begin to file into the elevators and I notice that Gale has disappeared from my side. I take the elevator with the tributes from District Ten and I can feel their eyes on me as we ride in silence. When they get off at Level 10, Mays appears beside me. "You did fantastic, but you might want to run to your room when we get to Level 12." I'm about to ask her why when the doors open on my level and we step out. Not ten seconds later, the second elevator doors open to reveal a very, very angry Gale. Oh so that's why I should have run.

Before I can make a dash for my room Gale sees me, grabs me by the arms and pins me the wall with so much force I bite down on my tongue again, this time to hold in a yelp. "What the hell was that!?" He thunders at me, his face so close to mine I can smell the mint from his tooth paste.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry." I stammer out , fear coursing through my body as the look of pure fury rages in his eyes.

"You're sorry! You're sorry!? You made me look like a complete fool!" His grip on arms tightens and I know that by tomorrow I'll have a row of bruises of where his fingers once where. My fingers being to lose feeling in them and my eyes fill with tear that I refuse to shed.

Maysilee has being standing paralyzed next to me the whole time and now she screams at the top of her lungs, "Haymitch! Haymicth! Haymitch!"

"Why did you do that!" Gale screams in my face, "Why! I thought we were friends!"

He slams me into the wall again and May goes berserk, trying in vain to pry his hands off me, yelling Haymitch's name over and over again. "Why did you want to make me look like a fool in front of the entire country!" He slams my body against the wall again, only this time much harder. My head hits the wall and I let out a strangled cry.

Gale's eyes widen, all the anger and hate gone, and he releases his grip on my arms. I fall to the floor with_ oomph_, a large glass urn breaking as I crash into it. My hands begin to bleed as the shards of glass cut through my skin and I look up at Gale towering over me, fear in my eyes. He's staring at me in horror and standing directly behind him are Haymitch, Cinna and Portia, all of them frozen, half way inside the room, halfway in the elevator. By the look on Haymitch's face, they saw how I got to the floor. The second elevator doors open to reveal a very hyper Effie, practically bouncing around on the balls of her feet. "Oh you should _see_ the commotion outside! Everyone love-" her eyes virtually pop out of her head when she sees me lying on the floor in a bed of glass. "Oh dear! Did you fall?"

"Yeah after he pushed her!" Mays yells though only Haymitch and I can hear her.

I just nod my head silently, "Yeah Effie, I just tripped." My voice is shaky as I try to stand up, picking the glass out of my hand. Before I can intervene Haymitch has Gale by the shirt collar, a scene that looks unfortunately very familiar.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Haymitch demands, his whole face distorted in anger.

The fire is back in Gale's eyes as he spits out, "So this is your big plan, to make me look like an idiot in front of all of Panem!"

"You did the idiot thing all on your own." Haymitch seethes at him.

"This was your idea wasn't it?" Gale rages.

"It was my idea." I say, trying again to stand up, and wincing as I feel a piece of glass slip into my palm.

Gale's eyes scream betrayal as he stares at me, "You made me look weak, " he says, his voice is full of venom.

Haymitch grabs Gale's arm and tosses him to the side, "She made you look _desirable_! Now that she wants you every man woman and child wants a piece of either of you. You got through your interview fair enough but if it weren't for her you'd be forgettable. Now their screaming both of your names down the streets of Panem! The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve"

"But we aren't star-crossed lovers!" Gale yells in protest and Haymitch scoffs.

"Who cares if it's true? It's all a big show, meant to entertain the citizens of the Capitol. And the only way to survive it, is to make them _like_ you, make them_ root_ for you, make them _care_ if you live or die. And that's exactly what she did for you." Haymitch turns back to me, gingerly helping me stand. Most of the damage has been done to my hands, but I do feel a small piece of glass wedged above my eyebrow, which Haymitch carefully takes out. "I told you he's not worth it." He mutters to me, helping me pluck glass out of my palms.

"Madge, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" I nod once, not meeting his eyes. "I just thought that yo-"

"You were just worried about your girlfriend. I get it." I say, my voice empty of any emotion as I think about Katniss. Although she never told me anything, I'm practically certain that they had something but I honestly hadn't even thought about it when making up my plan.

Gale looks surprisingly taken back, "I don't have a girlfriend."

I snort, "Fine_, girlfriends_ then. Besides I bet she's smart enough to know what a bluff is right?" Even if I'm not, because for a moment, when he was looking at me during his interview, I could have sworn that I saw something, that maybe he actually felt something for me.

"Still, I should have been told, before I looked like a complete ass." He mutters angrily.

"No, no your reaction was perfect! If you had known it wouldn't have seemed real." Portia quickly asserts.

Gale's eyes look at all of us, taking in our expressions, "So you all knew?" Everyone but Effie nods and he sighs, annoyed yet clearly seeing that I've given him an edge. "Are you sure I reacted right?"

Portia chimes in again, "Yes, it was perfect. The way you avoided looking at the cameras, the blush."

"I don't blush." Gale gripes, "What about what I said about her in the interview, was that okay?" Everyone assures him that he did fine and he finally addresses me, "I'm sorry I attacked you." I give him a quick nod and Effie informs us it's time to eat. Haymitch grabs Gale by his arm and says something quietly to him and after a moment Gale nods and they both walk off in the opposite direction of the dining room, back towards the room where we practiced with Haymitch for the interviews

I can't puzzle over it too long because my palms begin bleeding profusely and Cinna has to lead me back to my room to treat my hands. He pushes a button on the wall of the bathroom which slides a small portion of the wall back to reveal bandages, ointments and creams stacked neatly on shelves. Cinna puts on some type of cream on my cuts, making sure that all the glass is out first, "This is sort of our miracle cream, it heals everything from acne to sores and cuts. Your cuts should be completely healed by morning, " he tells me with a reassuring smile.

"Thanks Cinna." I say, giving him a small smile. After he applies the cream he wraps both my hands up in bandages and we head back to join the others for supper. By the time we get there, they are already finishing up the first courses, cream and rose petal soup and I can't help but feel bitter that Gale made me miss part of the last actual meal I'll be eating for awhile. Maybe the last actual meal I'll eat ever. I sit down next to Cinna and I notice Gale look at me with sad eyes and it's all I can do not to yell at him over the table. I tried to help him and he slammed into a wall, he made me fall into an urn. I try my best to ignore everybody, my eyes stinging with tears still left unshed. Once dinner is over we sit and watch a replay of the interviews, and I'm shocked at how amazing I look. With the Capitol lights from the stage, the soft glow of my skin that my prep team spent hours to create, Cinna's remarkable dress, it's the first time I've ever considered myself beautiful. I try to watch myself in a third person perspective and I'm relieved that seem to pull off the 'charming, innocent, likable, mayor's daughter' without a hitch. The audience laughs at every one of my jokes, they sigh just when I want them to, perhaps I did inherit my father's public speaking abilities. And when I announce my love for Gale, it looks anything but staged, the hundreds of times that I practiced the speech in the mirror do not show not one bit. I look, simply put, like a young girl tragically in love with a boy she can never be with. What did Haymitch call it? Star-crossed lovers? Even the name sounds tragic. Then Gale's interview begins, and he's the ever loving, teasing, protective big brother that I've always known him to be. And when he talks about me, I can almost believe he means what he's saying. But of course his actions this evening speak otherwise. The anthem finishes playing and the screen goes black as the silence in the room gets piercingly loud. Tomorrow at dawn, we'll be shipped off to an unknown location to battle for our lives. Our stylists will travel with us to the very spot from which we'll be launched into the arena. They'll be the last faces we see before we are sent into the Games. Haymitch and Effie however will not be going us, as soon as they leave they will be at Game Headquarters, hopefully frantically signing up countless sponsors. Tonight will be the last chance to say goodbye.

Effie takes both of us by the hands and with actual tears in her eyes wishes us the best of luck. She gives me a quick hug and I can't help but think that I'm actually going to miss her. She kisses both of our cheeks before rushing out of the room. I don't believe I will be seeing Portia tomorrow so I give her a small hug and she kisses the top of my head. Haymitch has his arms crossed and is staring at me with a million different conflicting emotions. At least Mays isn't with me right now. "Any last words of wisdom?" I ask him, trying to smile and failing miserably.

"When the gong sounds grab the first thing you can reach. Usually I tell tributes to beat it out of there but your fast, you can get some supplies if you act smart. If it's more than a fifteen seconds sprint away from you, it's too risky. Grab the first things that are in front of you, then run." He turns to Gale now, "You're not as fast, your best bet is to high tail it out of there." He addresses us both now, his face expressionless. "Run. Put as much distance between you and the others as you can. And find water, you can live without food longer than you can live without water. Got it?"

"And after that?" Gale asks.

"Stay alive." It's the same advice he gave us on the train the first day. And honestly what more is there to say? Everyone heads off to their rooms but I feel Haymitch gently grab my arm. I look up to see him pointing to the back room. I raise my eyebrow but follow him nonetheless.

"What is it Haymitch?" I ask when we're alone.

"You're not going to stay away from him are you?" I remember his words from last night, how he told me the only way he would help Gale was if I were to stay away from him as possible. But honestly, I know that given the chance to form an alliance with Gale, I would do it in a heartbeat. So I answer honestly, shaking my head no. He sighs, "Thought not. Just know I did it to get you home. Everything I did was to get you home." He says the words with such much intensity it scares me.

"Did what?" He shakes his head before giving me a tight hug. It reminds me so much of my dad's hugs that I feel tears come to my eyes. When did I start thinking of Haymitch as a father figure?

He lets me go and tells me to get some rest. I nod once about to leave when he say, "He's not worth it sweetheart. Believe me he's not." He says it in such a way that I know that he's speaking from personal experience. There's so much sadness in his voice that it gives me physical pain so I quickly walk to my room, desperate to get away from Haymitch and his cryptic messages. Mays sits cross-legged on my bed and she smile at me as I enter. I try to smile back but fail again and quickly slip out of my dress, draping it on a chair. I take out the red strands of fake hair and I step into the shower, washing the body glitter and hair sparkles out. I wash my face of any trace of the dramatic make-up and return to my room looking like plain old Margaret Undersee again. I grab the first pajamas I find, and sit down next to Mays on the bed, not ready to go to sleep, not ready to give up my last day of freedom just yet.

"We should work on our signals." May says and I nod, knowing that she's right. When I was younger I and she had all kinds of secret codes for when I was in public and couldn't take to her out in the open. When I got older we sort of just stopped but since I'm going to be needing her help in the arena I need to be able to talk to her. We decide that if I want to know where the other tributes are and what they're doing than I'll pull lightly on my left ear, as if I'm playing with an earring and if I need food or water I'll rub my neck.

"One more thing," I tell her, "I'll scratch my arm right above my left elbow if I want you to check on Gale."

Her eyes narrow to slits and I prepare myself for a fight, "You still want to protect him, even after what he did to you?"

I nod once, "Do you stop loving Haymitch when he does something dumb?"

"Stop comparing us Madge! It's different!"

"How!"

"Because I'm dead!" She shouts. Her whole face falls as she says, "I'm dead Madge. I'm nothing more than a spirit. Me and Haymitch can never grow old together, can never get married, have kids. We can never have a life because _my_life is over. And I'm too selfish to let him go, I'm too awful to let him have a life."

"Mays I didn't mean-"

"I know you didn't." She sighs once before smiling at me again, "So, scratch on left arm means check on Gale?" I nod and she sighs again, wrapping me in a hug, "Alright then. I've decided that I'm not going to make any visits while you're in the arena, it's too dangerous to be going back and forth."

My eyes widen in surprise, "Is my mom going to be okay?"

May nods, "She's the one that actually told me to do it."

"And Haymitch?" May shrugs in response and I give her a tight hug.

"Do, do you, will you be alright for the night?" I nod motioning for her to go. She kisses my cheek once before disappearing into the air. I lay down in my bed for about thirty seconds before I realize that I'll never be able to go to sleep. My mother's face flashes before my eyes, followed by my father's, Peeta's, Nora's, Darius', all my friends and family back home. But their faces aren't the only thing that plays across my mind, I can't stop picturing the dummy from training, knives and arrows sticking out of every side. It makes me sick to even think about but I can't stop, all I can think is how I lost any type of control in there, how I turned into some kind of monster. I think about every Hunger Games that I can remember watching, some of even the sweetest, good-natured tributes turning into savages. And I don't want that to happen to me. I won't let that happen to me. My room suddenly feels too small, I feel like I'm suffocating and I dash out of room, the padded carpet helping in muffling the sounds of my sprinting feet. I retch the door to the roof open, leaving it slightly ajar as I take the steps two at a time.

The night air feels sweet against my skin and I don't stop my pace as I reach the roof, running to the very edge. I swing my legs around, perching delicately on the railing. The force field is about a foot away from the railing, so close that I can almost feel the electric vibration on my skin. I close my eyes, tilting my head up into the night sky. There are cheers and chants echoing from the streets of the Capitol and peering down at them I see them dancing and singing loudly, celebrating the beginning of the Games.

_ "I just-I just want to stay me, I don't want to turn into something I'm not." _I expect to feel the tears well up in my eyes, but this time there are no tears, no sobs racking through my body. Instead I feel cold, hard determination. I hold my head higher, looking out upon the Capitol. I will show them. I'll show them all. I'm not just a pawn in their game, they cannot turn me into a monster. My mouth opens on its own accord, the melody flowing out into the air, barely loud enough to be heard over the cheering of the Capitol citizens. "Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? It is the music of a people, who will not be slaves again!" The sound of the heavy roof door slamming makes me jump a foot in the air. I imagine an Avox or a Capitol attending catching me singing the song of the revolution but when I do turn around, I'm wearing an expression of defiance rather than of fear. But the person standing behind me is none other than Gale Hawthorne, looking slightly annoyed that I'm up here. Since he hasn't started bombarding me with a million questions, I'm assuming that he did not hear my concert of rebellion.

"Couldn't sleep?" I ask him, looking back out at the city.

"Nope," he says, coming to stand next to me on the other side of the railing. "You neither?" I shake my head, picking at my bandages. He notices and his face contorts to a grimace, "I'm sorry about how I acted earlier. I can't believe I did that to you."His finger lightly traces the red arks on my arms, the ones that he there. "I didn't mean to hurt you, and the noise you made when you hit your head on the wall…I'm so sorry Madge." He takes one of my bandaged hands in his, "I hurt your hands and we're going to the arena tomorrow, if something happens because of me-"

"Its fine Gale, it's not like I had a chance anyway."

He sighs, "Not this again."

I shake my head, "No, I'm not having another pity party, I'm just…thinking."

"Yeah, me too. That's why I couldn't go to sleep, I couldn't shut my brain off."

"Thinking about your family?

He shakes his head slightly, "Honestly, not really. I keep wondering what terrain we'll be put in. You thinking about home?"

I shake my head no, "I just keep thinking about what happened at my training session with the Gamemakers, how the dummy looked with all those knives sticking out of it." I take a deep breath as I look up at the stars, "I was a monster in there. I lost all sense of control, I lost _myself_! I just don't want to turn into someone else in there, I don't want to turn into something I'm not. If I'm going to die, I want to die as me. Does that make any sense?" I turn to look at him, waiting for him to answer. He shakes his head and I groan in frustration, looking back at the sky, "I won't let them turn me into some kind of ruthless killer. I don't want to be just a piece in their Game!" I face Gale again, wanting to see if he understands now and find him staring at me, his eyes boring into mine.

"Did I just hear little Miss Mayor's daughter say something border line rebellious?" he says it with a smirk but I can tell that he surprised, and underneath his ultra-size ego, he's impressed.

I laugh, "You'd be surprised all the types of conversations we have in my house. Believe me Gale, nothing is how it seems." I face the stars again but I still feel his eyes on me.

"So, are you not going to kill anyone?"

I cringe at the mere thought of taking another person's life to prolong mine but I find myself shaking my head, "No, when the time comes, I'll fight for my life like any other would. I can't just give up. I just wish-I wish that there was a way to show that I'm not just a pawn in their game, to show them that I'm still me." I look back to him and he's staring at me with so much intensity that my cheeks instantly go red. His words from the interview play in my ears and I wonder for the millionth time that day if he meant any of what he said.

"We're more alike than I thought Undersee." I laugh and he laughs with me. He sits next to me on the railing, looking out at the city lights. His hand intertwines with mine and I feel my heart skip a beat, the same reaction that happens whenever he touches me. The wind is picking up and the exhaustion from the last few days begins to catch up with me. We walk slowly down the stairs back to our rooms. In a fit of bravery I give him a quick hug before walking down the rest of the way to my room. I don't look back, not until I reach my bedroom door. He's still standing there, in front of his room, watching me. "Good luck Madge."

"Good luck Gale." I say, closing the door behind me as I'm engulfed in darkness. I sit on my bed, opening the night stand drawer. My mockingjay pin as well as the three chocolate chip cookies that Nora gave me at the goodbyes lay at the bottom of the drawer. I scoop out the white package, taking one of the cookies out. There stale, not a big surprise since they're more than a week old now. Still, they're delicious and taste like home. I eat all three cookies, laying down in my bed with covers pulled all the way to my head. Tomorrow it begins.

* * *

_I'm home. Peeta and me race in front of my house. I beat him and he swears that he let me win. Nora smiles down at me as she hands me a cookie. My mother grins at me as she tickles me into submission, forcing me to finishing my boring multiplication homework. My father runs his hands over the keys on the black piano, trying to teach my how to create the same musical masterpiece as him. Maysilee sits on my bed, braiding my hair as I chat about the Seam boy with grey eyes. Katniss sits next to me at lunch, neither of us talking and neither of us minding the silence. Darius chases me through the halls of the Justice Building, cracking jokes about someone's batched haircut. Peeta hugs me tight, whispering in my ear, "_Do you hear the people sing Madge?"

* * *

I wake up with tears running down my face and May rubbing my back. "It's okay. It's okay." She says over and over again. There's light barely coming into my room and Cinna soon arrives in my room.

"The hovercraft is here." He says, not bothering with formalities, knowing it won't help me now. I nod once, following him out onto the roof. I don't see Portia or Gale but I try not to think about him. Once on the hovercraft I take a shower, but even the warm water doesn't help me now, but I still try to enjoy it while I can. I dry off and put on the satin robe that Cinna offers me, the same one I wore during my time in the Remake Center. Cinna removes my bandages and miraculously my hands are completely healed, as if yesterday's incident never happened. My clothes arrive and Cinna inspects the garments, white undergarments including a white undershirt, skin tight knee high socks, simple tawny pants, a light green shirt, a sturdy brown belt, a thin, hooded black jacket that falls down to the thighs and a pair of soft leather brown boots. "The material in the jacket's designed to reflect body heat. Expect some cool nights," he says. He helps me get dressed and tells me to walk around and make sure everything fits. It fits perfectly and my prep team comes into to make sure I'm ready for the arena. They brush my hair, pluck my eyebrows again, make sure my teeth are shimmering white. Cinna himself does my hair, a long type of French braid that he calls a fishtail. "So you're not like everyone else." He says, squeezing my shoulder. The prep team finishes with me and they all kiss my cheek, wishing me the best of luck with tears in their eyes. Cinna orders me food and water and I eat and drink as much as I can, even though I don't taste any of it. I hands are shaking and Cinna gently envelopes them in his. "You're going to be okay Madge."

I shake my head, "I'm so scared Cinna." He pulls me into a hug and I lean into him, to afraid to cry. We don't talk until the overhead speaker says that it's time for all tributes to go to their platforms.

"You know, I'm not allowed to bet, but if I could I'd bet on you."

I smile at him weakly, "You're just saying that because you're my stylist."

He shakes his head, "No, you have an inner spark Madge. Your stronger than you think you are." He hugs me again, and I hold onto him, as if I hold on long enough I'll wake up from this nightmare. "Good luck, girl on fire." He releases me and I step onto my launch pod. A see-though shield of some sort comes down around me. Cinna taps his hand under his chin and I raise my head up high as I'm lifted into the arena, fear leaping into my throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"

**Sooooooo? Love it? Hate it? Please review :D I hope you guys like Gale's interview, I worked really hard on it! Reviews all get a kiss from Peeta/Gale/Darius/Finnick/Cato/Marvel ect. haha. Love you guys!**


	9. And the Games Begin

**Hey everyone! I hope you like this chapter, kisses to all who reviewed! As always, Love you guys and Enjoy :D**

**DISCLAIMER(since I always forget to put one): I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES!**

_Chapter 9_

_I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._ It plays in my head like a mantra as I look at my surroundings. We're on a solid plane of dirt and grass, to my right and back of me is sparse trees and lying dead center in the ring of tributes is the shimmering gold Cornucopia, filled with things that can elongate life here in the arena. Sixty seconds, that's all the time allotted to try to form some type of plan. I look frantically around for Gale and find him about five tributes away from me, staring intently at the bow and arrows lying forty yards away. My blood runs cold as I see him position himself to retrieve the arrows. _No! You'll get yourself killed before you can get half way there!_ I scream at him in my head, willing him to look at me.

"Madge! Pay attention!" May breaks me out of my daze, glaring at me. "He'll be fine Madge, just focus." She's hovering next to me and I give her a tiny nod in response. Focus, right. Haymitch's advice to get whatever is closest to me rings in my ears and I quickly scan the supplies scattered around me. A few steps in front of me is a loaf of bread and a small square of plastic. Not entirely useful. A backpack is my best bet, since they could contain any number of supplies. The closest one to me is a bright orange one, about twenty yards away from me. I position myself to run for it when I see a larger black backpack not five yards away than the orange one. Tributes that get greedy and try to press their luck are usually the first to die, but it's really not that far of a distance, I could easily get both packs and be deep in the forest before anyone even tries to reach the Cornucopia. "Be ready! Fifteen seconds!" I lunge forwards, reading myself to take off for the packs. "Five…four…three..two" The sound of the gong echoes across the arena and I jump off my metal plate, sprinting for the backpack. I don't dare to look around, slinging the orange pack onto my shoulder without breaking my sprint. I dash the extra five yards to the black bag, grabbing it and hurling it onto my back in one smooth motion. It's heaver than I expected but the adrenaline pumping through my body makes it hardly noticeable. "Go! Run!" May yells as I take off towards the forest. I'm at the first line of trees when I hear the scream. I turn automatically and see a boy fall to the ground, blood seeping out of his body. Clove removes the dagger from his back with a wicked smile. And then it starts. The screaming. The cries. The sound of metal meeting flesh and bone. It's as if Clove killing the boy set off a chain of deaths, or maybe she was just the first to reach the weapons. Glimmer stabs a girl in the throat with a knife, Cato rips a boy in half with his sword. The cries of the dying rattle in my ears as Maysilee screams at me to move, to run. But I'm frozen, watching as children fall, red staining the once green grass. "Duck!" I fall to the ground instinctively and hear a knife whiz past my head, lodging itself into a tree somewhere. I snap my head up to see Clove running towards me, another knife in her hand, aiming it right at me. "Run! Run, run, run NOW!" Mays screeches and I quickly stumble to my feet, sprinting off into the trees. Another knife comes flying at me and I run faster, fear lodging itself in my throat.

_ "You're absolutely useless! You won't last a god damn day! You won't last ten minutes in the arena. Why don't you do yourself a favor and step of the plate early!"_ Gale's cruel words from the opening ceremonies come to mind as I dodge another one of Clove's knives. Will he care if he sees my face in the sky tonight? Or will he think it's better this way, that somebody else killed me before he had to? I disappear into the trees, Clove trying to catch up when I hear Cato yell something at her, telling her to come back. She throws one more knife after me, which I'm able to miraculously avoid again, before sprinting back to the bloodbath. I remove the last knife she threw at me from the pine tree it lodged itself into, slipping it into my belt. At least I got a weapon out of it. Then I run. I sprint across the forest until I can no longer hear the sounds of dying children, no longer see the look on their faces as their life drains from their bodies, I run until I can't see Clove standing over the dead boy with a look of triumph on her face, I run until I can't feel my legs beneath me. But even as I run to escape the dying, I doubt if I can ever close my eyes without seeing their pale faces, if I can ever stand in a quiet room without hearing their cries. Tears threaten to spill out of my eyes, but I press down hard on the nerve in my hand to keep them away. I don't know how long I keep up my sprint, but I follow quietly and swiftly behind May, trying very hard to get the picture of red grass out of my mind. My stomach growls and my throat begins to burn and even though I know that I probably have some food in one of my bags, that precious food is to be saved for emergencies only. After a few hours of constant running, I allow myself to sow down to a decent paced jog, trying to put as much distance between me and the other tributes like Haymitch advised. My greatest hope is that May is leading me to a place with water, I'll be able to survive longer without food then I can without water. The rumbling in my stomach increases and for the first time I actually wish that I had been from the Seam rather than the Town, at least then I could have been somewhat prepared for dealing with huger. Being the Mayor's daughter, I always had food available to me, and the last few days gorging myself at the Capitol haven't helped much. It's late afternoon when the cannons start, each one representing a fallen child. I allow myself to pause as I count the cannons. Ten. Ten dead. Ten lifeless, , stiff, cold, pale children, their bodies being collected by hovercraft to be cleaned, re-dressed and shipped home in a wooden box. Ten families grieving over their loss, ten families trying to put the pieces of broken puzzle back together, with one puzzle piece missing. My eyes sting with tears for children that I don't even know, when my body freezes in horror. Gale. Gale! Did I see him get out of the bloodbath? The last time I remember seeing him was right before the gong rang. I begin to violently scratch at my arm, right above the elbow, too scared to worry if it looks natural or not.

Maysilee rolls her eyes at my antics, "He's fine Madge, he got out of there right after you did, he even got a pretty good sized backpack. He's _fine_." I sigh out loud, still slight uneasy, she could easily be lying so that I won't have a break down right in the middle of the forest. I'll know for sure in a few hours. I dump my bags down on the floor and sit down on a rotting tree stump, suddenly exhausted. I rub my neck, telling May in our silent way that I'm thirsty and hungry. "There's a stream about two miles from here, we actually over shot it some so we'll have to do a little circle back." She told me on the hovercraft that she's going to have to lead me slightly astray and let me do some things on my own, it would look very peculiar if I knew where every pond and berry bush was without much searching. "There's quite a few good trees near there that you can set up camp in too." I give her the slightest nod I can and decide that I better go through my packs and see what I have to work with. I open the smaller orange pack first, making a mental note to try to cover up the neon color as much as I can later on. Inside I find, black sleeping bag that reflects body heat, a pack of crackers, a pack of dried beef strips, a bottle of iodine, a box of wooden matches, a small coil of wire, a pair of sunglasses, and an empty half-gallon plastic bottle. I smile a little as I open the black backpack, taking out the contents and laying them on the floor next to the supplies from the orange bag. Inside the black pack is a loaf of bread, about six feet of rope, three cans of peaches, a basic first aid kit, a medium size net, another box of matches, a wool blanket, and a full half gallon bottle of water. I grin, ripping the cap off and taking two small sips of the water before I gingerly put the top back on. Even though May says I'm close to water the last thing I need is for potential sponsors to think I can't ration my food and water. I put the water bottle back in the bag, and find one last thing in the pack, a light-weight, black case with half a dozen knives inside, varying in shape and size. "Yes!" Mays laughs next to me, peering down at the knives, "Now we're talking!"I smile slyly, picking up the longest and sharpest blade and sliding it into my belt, placing the knife I got from Clove in the case_. _

_Seven knives, not bad for a girl from Town_, I think smugly as I put all my supplies back in the backpacks. I stuff the orange bag into the black one and strap it onto my back again, ready to start looking for that stream May told me about. I'm going at a much slower pace than when I a few hours ago, my legs tired from sprinting for hours. I fiddle with my mockingjay pin, pined to my shirt as I think about home. Usually at this time Nora would be starting dinner, and if it was one of her good days, my mother would be up, helping Nora with her chores, maybe even baking cookies or cupcakes. Maybe my father would come home early, finished with the mounds of paperwork overloading his desk, maybe he would sit down at the piano and play a song for my mother, who would sit next to him, singing softly. Maybe Darius would visit and have some ice tea with me, joking around as always. Maybe Peeta would stop by and we would sit on the porch, eating day old cookies from the bakery. Maybe my mother and father would tuck me into bed, both of them kissing me goodnight like they used to when I was younger. I'm pressing down so hard on the nerve in my hand that I think I might have nerve damage. _New rule, no thinking about home, _I tell myself, trying to catch up to May.

I hear it before I see it. The sound of water, trickling down onto stones. I rush past Mays, running out to the pond. Yes, there it is, beautiful sparkling blue water. I take out the iodine and the empty bottle from the orange bag and fill it up with water, dropping in the correct number of drops and wait for the half an hour it takes to purify the water. I sip on the other bottle of water, as I look around the pond. My stomach is still aching slightly and I rub my neck again, trying to be discreet but also trying to ask May if there is any food around. She doesn't answer so I assume that she wants me to find it on my own. After awhile I come across a rather large berry bush. I force myself to not eat them without further inspection. The berries are a purplish blue, larger than a grape but smaller than a plum and when I open one of them I find the meat to be a light yellow. "Damson berries." I say with a grin, one of the very few berries I know by heart. We used to have a damson bush in our backyard, my mother would bake them into pies, but a few days after the mine explosion that took Gale's father as well as many other miners lives, my father took it, claiming that the last thing we needed was some snooty Capitol citizen to see a wild bush growing in our backyard. I never saw the harm in it, but my mother stopped baking pies after that. _Well, so much for not thinking about home._

I pop one of the berries into my mouth, savoring the tart yet very sweet taste. Over the next hour I gorge myself on damson berries and water. It's near dusk when I finish the first bottle of water and I fill the bottle up with the berries, knowing it's time to find a sturdy tree to camp in for the night. Mays once again offers no instructions so I wander around looking for a good tree. I find one, a tall hickory tree, when I see May snap her head to the right, a look of terror on her face "Get out of here now!" she yells at me. I look at her oddly when a second later I hear the sound of heavy footsteps making their way though the forest. I grab my bag and take off, running as fast as I can. I can feel someone behind me, quickly catching up to me. "Faster Madge! Come on, you have to run!" I try, I really do, but my feet are still aching from earlier and even with all the damson berries, I still feel light headed. I trip over a fallen branch and scramble to get back up as the footsteps get closer. I run another few yards, my purser hot on my trail, when I fall again, my ankle throbbing as I try to get up. I pull out my knife the same moment he pulls out his sword, his ice blue eyes deadly. Cato. Should have known that he'd be the one to kill me.

"Hey Twelve." He says with his slow moving grin.

I smile back at him, not letting my fear show, "Hey Two, fancy meeting you here."

He laughs, and it's almost as terrifying as his grin, "I offered you a chance, Twelve, you should have taken it."

An idea sparks and I roll my eyes dramatically, as if I wasn't even fazed at his barley concealed threat. "I had every intention of joining the alliance, the girl from your district tried to kill me when I tried to help."

A look of confusion crosses his features, "No, she tried to kill you because you were running away."

"I wasn't running way!" I say in annoyance, "I was chasing after some girl, she ran into the forest and I knew I could take her but then Clove started to throw knives at me and what was I _supposed_ to do? Tell her we were on the same team? Somehow I doubt she would have waited to hear me explain."

"Then what's with the backpack?"

"I grabbed them so others wouldn't try to. " I say it as if it was the most obvious explanation.

He looks even more confused now, pausing before he asks "You were going to join us?"

I nod enthusiastically, "I talked it over with my mentor and he agreed that I'd stay alive longer if I was part of the strongest alliance in the Games. I was going to tell you that I wanted in the day of the interviews, but I never had any time."

Cato looks at me for a second and for a moment I think that he saw through my lie, when he slowly starts to put down his sword. I follow his lead, lowing my knife and he grins again, "Welcome to the team Madge," he sticks out his hand and I shake it, trying not to let my disgust show. "Come on everybody went to hunt down some girl, I went off alone because I thought I heard something over here." I nod and he starts to lead the way, me trailing behind him. I keep looking at Maysilee, silently asking for help, but she just keeps looking at me in distress. I see them before they see us and I want nothing more than to run and hide somewhere. "Hey! Look what I found." The Careers all turn to see us approaching and before I can blink Clove has a knife in her hand, aimed right at my head.

"What the hell Cato! We brining hostages along now?" Clove yells, clearly irritated.

Cato glares at her, "She's in our alliance."

"No she is not! She ran away at the bloodbath!"

"Because you chased her off." Cato and Clove are at a stand-off but eventually Clove lowers her dagger, muttering profanities. "Alright, let's start heading back to the lake, we should be able to knock off at least two more before morning." I hold in a flinch at his comment and follow the pack of Careers, scratching my arm in worry.

"Gale's about to set up camp, he'll be okay, they won't be able to find him." May tells me in a quiet voice that I don't like. We start walking and it because apparent that while Cato and Clove may be the most deadly, the pair from District One are the most annoying, Marvel talks too loud and too much and Glimmer seems extremely bored, and while she's armed with the bow and arrows I saw in the arena but it's obvious she isn't very skilled with them. We walk for about another hour when the anthem sounds. We all look towards the sky to see the faces of the dead tributes. The girl from District Three, the boy from Five, both tributes from Six and Seven, the boy from Eight, the girl from Nine and the girl from Ten, all gone. Dead. Every time a tribute that one of the Careers killed shows up in the sky they whoop and cheer, patting each other on the back. Everyone joins in and I try to cheer and smile as well but I can barely contain my rage. The only one holding back is the boy from Four, he only gets patted on the back once and while he smiles, it looks half-hearted. He's younger than the rest of them, probably about fifteen, with dark brown hair and lightly colored blue eyes. Out of all of the Careers, he's the only one I can't hate on sight, he reminds me erringly of someone that I can't place. We start walking again, on the lookout for any tributes we can find. "There," Mays says pointing to our left. I squint my eyes and see a small trail of smoke rising up into the sky. "Somebody made a fire, tell the others." My eyes widen at her, and I shake my head once. "Madge, they're going to see it soon anyways, they need to think they can trust you. Tell them." I can't, telling them about the fire-maker would be the same as killing her myself, I would be responsible for their death. Marvel squints into the sky, tilting his head to the side.

_He see it, _I think and before I can stop myself I say, "Hey, there's someone's camp fire over there." They all look to where I'm pointing and they start hooting and hollering, excited for the chance to kill again.

Cato grin again, "Good eye Twelve." I try my best to smile and we take off towards the source of the fire. It takes us a good fifteen minutes to get to the campsite and well the other Careers are being deadly quiet, I step on every twig, break every branch, praying that the tribute will hear and leave. But they don't. It's a girl, I can't remember her name but I think she's the tribute from District 8. She's sleeping on the floor, curled up in a ball next to her dwindling fire. Cato sneers, poking the girl in the side with his sword.

The girl's eyes flash open, and she scrambles upright, terror evident on her face. She starts to cry, tears staining her face, "P-p-please! I have a little brother, he n-needs me!"

Clove laughs malevolency, "Does it look like we care?" The others laugh and I stare at the girl, unable to move.

Cato raises his sword and the girl backs away, kicking her legs out to ward him off, "Please! Please! Please!" The girl screams as the sword slices through her midsection and the Careers laugh again, the sound of enjoyment mixing with the cries of pain.

Cato pulls his sword out of the girl, wiping it on the grass. "One more down!" The others cheer in response, giving each other high fives. Someone pats me on the back and my face forms into a grin, as if I didn't just see a little girl get killed in front of me. As if I did something to stop it. The pack starts moving again, heading back towards the lake.

"Shouldn't we have heard a canon by now?" Glimmer asks, looking annoyed.

"Maybe we have to get further away from the body?"

"Or maybe she's not dead!"

"She is dead you morons!" The argument goes into full swing and I can't take another second of it, them talking about the very thing I am trying to forget.

"Enough! We're wasting time, I'll go back and make sure she's dead." I tell them, trying to sound irritated but end up just sounding tired. The others quickly agree, though Clove makes it obvious that she doesn't trust me, demanding that I leave my backpack with them, taking only my knife. I comply, not really planning on leaving anyway, just wanting to get away from them. I jog back to the girl, and the moment I'm out of sight I start running to her. _Maybe she'll be okay, maybe I can save her, maybe I can fix this_. But the moment I find her, I know that she's a goner. Her face is pale, her wound is bleeding far too much and she's shivering like crazy. I kneel down next to her, not knowing what else to do. "I'm so sorry," I croak out, knowing fuly well that my apology won't change anything.

"Mama?" the girl asks, tears in her eyes. "Mama, I'm so cold." She holds out on of her hands to me, soaked in her own blood.

I take her hand gently in mine, not wanting to hurt her anymore. "I know sweetie, I know. But it will all be over soon okay?"

"I'm scared." She cries, tears falling from her eyes.

"Don't be scared, I'm right here. Don't be scared." I smooth out her bangs, like my mother used to when I was sick, "It'll be okay."

"Tell Daddy I… love him, and Baft that I'm sorry…I'm sorry I couldn't win…for him."

"I will." I tell the girl, my voice cracking.

The girl smiles, "I…I love…you" I try respond but I'm paralyzed, squeezing the girl's hand harder. She shivers once, closing her eyes gently. The canon fires and I finally let my tears fall, grieving for the girl whose name I don't know. I wipe my hand on the grass, the girl's blood mixing in with the dirt and leaves.

May stands next to me, ruing my back gently, "It wasn't your fault, they would have seen her fire even if you hadn't pointed it out." But maybe they wouldn't have, maybe they would have left her alone, maybe she'd be alive if it wasn't for me. I dry my eyes the best I can and start heading back to the Careers, hoping that I didn't take too long to get back.

"Was she dead?" Marvel asks me when I reach them.

I shake my head, "No, but she is now." We start walking towards the lake again and I fiddle with my pin again, I wonder what my mom and dad are thinking right now, they're probably worried about my little deal with the Careers. By the time we reach the Cornucopia it's well past midnight, the wind is cold and sharp against my bare face.

"Be careful," I look up to see the boy from Four talking to me, gesturing to the Cornucopia, "we rigged the landmines to explode if anyone steps on them, so follow our lead okay?" I nod as I watch Clove step carefully around the booby-traps. The boy from Three helps her over the last few landmines, he must have been the one to rig them up in the first place. The boy from Four helps me across the maze of explosives, and I fantasize for a moment about stepping on one of the trip wires and blowing it all sky high, taking out the most fearsome competitors all in one misplaced step. But I won't, I'm far too selfish and scared to sacrifice myself. We reach the inside of the Cornucopia and Cato begins to hand out dinner, two cans of stew and an apple each. After we eat he gives each of us a heavy duty sleeping bags, twice as good as the one I have in my pack . Once all the sleeping bags are handed out, Clove demands that they search the backpacks I got from the bloodbath to see if there's anything of use. Nothing raises much interest except the case of knives which Clove tries to claim as her own but the boy from Four stopped her, "You already have more knives than you need, she needs weapons too." Clove stares daggers at him but in the end I'm allowed to keep everything in my bag for now, they'll divvy the supplies up in the morning. I lay my sleeping bag down on as far away from Cato and Clove as possible, putting my backpack next to me. It's really not necessary for anyone to keep watch since the booby-traps will kill anyone that tries to get near us or the supplies and soon everyone is snoring in the large space of the Cornucopia. I try to close my eyes but I keep seeing the girl Eight, the look of peace on her pale face. I sit up, running a hand over my eyes, "Not tired?" I jump, turning to see that the boy from Four has set up his sleeping bag next to mine.

I shake my head, "No, I'm exhausted, I just can't fall asleep."

He nods once, looking towards the sleeping tributes, "I know what you mean. Your names Madge right?" I nod and he gives me a small shy smile, sticking his hand out, "Ronan."

I shake his hand and actually smile back at him. Up close he looks much younger than before, "How old are you?"

"Fourteen." He answers, looking at the floor.

I'm surprised, I remember watching the District Four Reaping, he volunteered as tribute. Volunteers are not as uncommon in the Career districts as they are back in Twelve, the tributes from District Two are almost always volunteers, but it's a little less for District Four, out of all the Career districts, District Four is the closest to the rest of the districts. While they still are some volunteers, it's not as common, and the volunteers are usually seventeen and eighteen so why in the world would he volunteer if he was so young? "You volunteered right?"

He doesn't answer and for a second I think that maybe I mixed him up with someone else when he nods, "Yes, I volunteered because my brother was reaped. He's only twelve."

"Why didn't you say that on your interviews?"

He shrugs, looking away from me, "I don't know. I just wanted it all to be over."

That I can understand, the want to just be done with it ll already. "You must be very brave to do that for your brother."

Ronan looks at me as if to see if I'm making fun of him before he shrugs again, "He' the only family I have. Our older sister and both of our parents died a few years ago."

"I'm sorry or your loss, " I tell him, biting my lip, "I can only imagine how hard that must have been for you."

He gives me the same quizzical look before his expression softens, "Your weren't really  
planning on joining us were you?" My body tenses but I shake my head no, hoping that he'll kill me quickly and not draw it out. But he doesn't kill me. Instead he says, "I didn't want to either, but Marina refused to leave them and I couldn't leave her, we grew up together, she's practically family." I imagine having to go through the Games with Peeta and flinch at the mere thought. "You didn't finish that girl off today huh?" again I shake my head and he smiles, "I knew it. Not that your weak or anything, but, I saw it in your eyes, you don't like to kill."

"No one like to kill." I say exasperated. In response he gestures to Cato and Clove laying down on the other side of the Cornucopia, both snoring and drolling. "They're just children, we're all just _children_. Don't you see? They do what they were taught to do, what they think is right. I doubt if they actually _like_ killing."

"They do Madge, believe me, they do."

"But they don't really, they just think they do. They think that the only way to survive this is to turn into some kind of monster, that if they pretend that killing is just a game, then it'll be easier to live with themselves."

"So what's your strategy then?"

"I don't have one," I sigh once, looking back at him, "what's the point of winning, if when you get back home and you can't even live with yourself anymore?"

Ronan doesn't say anything and for a second, looking back at the sleeping bodies of the other tributes. When he faces me, his face is hard as stone, "Get out of here."

"What?" I ask in surprise.

He grabs my backpack and shoves it at me before quietly tip-toeing towards a snoring Glimmer, taking the bow and quiver of arrows from behind her, "I saw you at the archery station," he tells me, throwing the bow and arrows at me, "you never miss. Besides I don't think they're helping much in her hands." I stare at Ronan in disbelief and he grabs my arm pulling me to my feet. "Go. Get out of here before I change my mind." He tries to sound menacing but his voice is too young, too sweet for it to work.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you don't belong here, and because I won't be able to look myself in the mirror if I let Clove stab you in the neck when your asleep and because I may be stuck here in an alliance I don't want but _you _ can get out, and maybe if I save you, maybe I'll be able to live with myself again." He shoves my things at me again, pushing me towards the mouth of the Cornucopia. "Walk along the edge, there's no traps there."

I grab his wrist, "Come with me." He shakes his head and my grip on his wrist tightens, "If they find out that you let me go they'll kill you." My voice is pleading as I beg him to come with me.

"I-I can't leave Marina."

Maysilee hisses at me to go but ignore her. "Then wake her. Make her come with us. Hurry."

He looks at me once before silently walking to a sleeping Marina, shaking her awake. She lunges forward out of her sleep, knife already drawn. "It's okay," Ronan tells her, "It's just me."

"Damn it Ron, you scared the hell out of me." She smacks him once playfully, but he grasps her arm roughly pulling her up. "What are doing?"

"We have to go." Her playful smile is gone, replaced with worry. She looks over his shoulder to see me, holding my backpack and the bow and arrows, her eyes narrowing to slits.

"What's going on?"She asks Ronan, her voice ice.

"Please, Marina, we have to go."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"We're leaving. Now."

She shakes her head in distrust, "You can't leave. This is our best chance of survival, being a part of the top alliance, this is the only way."

"It's not the only way!" Ronan erupts at her, trying to keep his voice down, "Becoming a monster, killing for fun, that _not_ the way I want to win."

"That's the only way to win! What did she say to you?" Marina turns her anger to me, her face glowering, "What did you tell him?"

"She didn't tell me anything I wasn't already thinking. I can't do this. I can't be part be a part of an alliance that thinks it's fun to go on hunting sprees for children. I won't be able to live with myself if I stay with them."

"At least you'll be _alive_, isn't that enough?"

He shakes his head, "What's the point of living if you can't lie with what you've done. Come with us Marina."

She stares at him with tears in her eyes before shaking her head, "I can't Ron, I can't."

I bit my lip as I watch Ronan crush Marina's body against his. She kisses him once on the forehead before he turns back to me, grabbing the biggest backpack on the floor. "Let's go."

**Okay I know, no Gale in this chapter, but just wait he's coming! What do you guys think about Madge's new ally? Shout out to the reviewer who gave me the idea to make the boy from D4 an ally,I'm sorry I forgot who gave the idea but THANK YOU :D! Love it/Hate it PLEASE REVIEW! Free kisses from whoever you want ) **


	10. Into the Woods

**Hi guys! I'm so freaken sory this took so lon, I was in the hospital for about a week because my appended burst and I had to have surgery! Hurt like hell, hope it never happen to you guys! Anywho all better now :) and I hope you guys like this chapter! Enjoy :D**

**DISCLAIMER: NO DUH, I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES! **

_**Chapter 10**_

We run. We run away from the Cornucopia and the Careers, we run till are feet ache, till our backs throb. Neither of us says anything, and I appreciate the silence, it gives me time to try to process what just happened. In one day I had been forced to join the Careers, and less than six hours later, I'm escaping with a boy from District Four. Who would have thought that out of everyone in the Games, I would make an alliance with someone from a Career District?

I glance at Ronan as we run through the forest. His face is pained and pale, no doubt thinking about Marina. Maysilee leads the way in front of us, and I slow up so that Ronan doesn't have to try to keep up with me so much. The sky is barely turning pink when we finally stop to rest. I throw my supplies on the ground, sinking down next to them, leaning back against a tree. Ronan plops down next to me, breathing heavily. "You alright?" I ask him, trying to catch my breath.

He nods once, resting his head against the bark of the tree. "You wouldn't happen to have any water in those bags would you?" I open the black bag, handing him the still full water bottle. "Thanks." He takes a small sip before handing it back to me, clearly not wanting to waste it. I take a sip too, putting it back in the bag.

"I think we're far enough for now, we should set up camp." He nods his consent, standing and helping me to my feet. We wander around for awhile longer, looking for a good tree that would hold both of us. Finally we find a tall one with sturdy branches and lots of coverage. "This one good?" I ask.

"Yup, that should do." He fiddles with the straps of his backpack, "We can go through my bag in the morning, I just want to sleep now."

"I have a blanket and a sleeping bag in my pack, you can use one."

"Thanks," he says with a small smile. I smile back at him, preparing to climb up the tree. "Madge?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we, I mean, do you want….allies?" he asks, his cheeks turning red.

I smile at him, sticking my hand out, "Allies." He smiles back, shaking my hand. We climb up the tree, careful to only use the strongest branches. We're lucky, even though Ronan came from a richer district and is well-fed, he is small for his age, making it easier and safer for him to climb. And while I have never gone hungry, I am quite slim and climb the branches with ease. We choose two thick branches near each other to spend the night in. I take out the blanket and sleeping bag from my backpack, handing the sleeping bag to Ronan.

He shakes his head, pushing the bag back towards me, "No, you take the sleeping bag, I'll take the blanket."

I frown, "Your younger, you get the bag."

"You're a girl, you get the bag."

I snort, rolling my eyes, "Sexist."

He laughs quietly, "My mother raised me to be a gentleman, she would have skinned me alive if I let a girl give up her sleeping bag for me." Too tired to argue it out I take back the bag and hand him the blanket.

"Well, when you're freezing your hinny off don't come crying to me." He laughs again and I lay my sleeping bag across the branch, dangling the bow and quiver of arrows from a nearby branch.

"Belt yourself in, so if you roll over you won't fall." Mays instructs. I do as she says, then curl up in the warm heaven and allow myself to drift off to sleep.

* * *

"Madge? Madge you awake?"

I yawn loudly, stretching my stiff and sore muscles, "I am now."

Ronan smiles sheepishly as me, "Sorry, I think we should get moving." I open my eyes to see the already lit up forest, it must be at least ten in the morning. I voice my agreement and start packing up, climbing down the tree. Ronan looks over the supplies in his bag two pocket knives, a hatchet, a sleeping bag, a full water bottle, a good-sized pot and a slick black jacket similar to the ones we are already wearing.

I show him the supplies in my pack and his eyes grow wide as he looks at the net. Of course, District Four is the fishing district. He runs his fingers over the net longingly before smiling up at me, "Maybe I can catch us some fish later."I smile, "Sounds like a plan." The rest of the day we spend putting more distance between us and the Cornucopia. By mid day we find the stream that I was at when Cato found me. We fill up our bottles and Ronan sighs as he steps into the shallow water.

"You probably haven't gone a whole week without being soaking wet, huh?" I ask him playfully.

He smirks, "Nope, I don't see how you all stand it, staying on dry land all the time."

I roll my eyes, "Whatever you say, Mr. Mermaid."

He laughs, "Don't you mean Merman?"

"Nope, I like Mermaid better." He laughs again as he takes the small net out of the black backpack, casting it into the shallow water. The stream couldn't be more than four feet deep, but I see little fish swimming in the current and Ronan pulls the net out of the water with at least half a dozen fish ensnared in it. I applaud, laughing as he does a little bow.

I quickly make a fire and he starts on gutting the fishes and laying them in the pot. He shows me how to gut them, and while the task makes my stomach curl up in a knot, I'm happy to help. Once the fish begin to cook I volunteer to find some berries or nuts to eat. "Alright," Ronan says, looking at me anxiously, "but stay in ear shot, don't go too far."

I nod, heading off to try to find the damson bushes again. Maysilee walks quietly besides me, she's bee oddly quiet today. I scratch my arm, questioning how Gale's doing. "He's fine, got a few snares set up, eating a wild turkey right now." I nod once, relieved that he's doing good. I wonder if he's looking for me. He never made any attempt to form an alliance with me when we were at the Training Center, but then again neither did I. But he said that he wouldn't be able to kill me, so that counts for something right?

_Great going Madge, you're turning into one of those love sick fangirls that you've always despised, making something out of nothing, _I think, irritated at myself. I find the damson berries and pick as many as I can hold, pulling up my shirt slightly to make a makeshift bowl. I carry the berries back to Ronan, plopping them onto the grass. He picks one up, inspecting it closely, "You sure these are safe?"

"Positive." I say with a grin, popping on in my mouth. He smiles back at me, making a face at the tart after-taste. Soon the fish is done and we stuff ourselves on fish and damson, not a bad lunch. Ronan twists a small woven brown bracelet around his wrist, staring at it longingly. "You okay?"

He nods, looking up at me, "It's my token, it was my sister's. I made it to her for her fifteenth birthday, a week before she died."

His face wilts in pain and I bite my lip, wishing to offer him comfort but knowing that at this point nothing will. So I say the useless words that everyone say when they can't help, "I'm sorry."  
"Thanks, I think you would have like her," he smiles at me, "she was almost as big a brat as you are."

I shove his shoulder playfully, "I am not a brat!"

"Sure, whatever you say Princess," he say, repeating my words to him with a roll of his eyes. I stiffen, staring at him, my face going pale. "Madge? What's wrong?" he asks in worry, grabbing my arm and looking in my face

I shake my head, "N-nothing, somebody used to call me is all." He apologies sheepishly but I wave it off, "No, its okay, it just startled me." We continue chatting and snaking on the berries, I coat my orange backpack with mud to disguise its luminous color as begins to Ronan tell me about his brother.

"His name is Kelby, and he's the biggest prankster the world has ever known." He talks about his brother mockingly and teasingly, but there is love in his eyes and I smile as I see his face lights up as he talks about his him. I tell him how my father taught me piano when I was five, how I once twisted my ankle when I was playing dress up in my mother's heels. I tell him about the time me and Peeta accidently burned a whole batch of cookies to a blackened crisp, my father bought them all but as punishment made me eat the burnt treats for a whole week until they were gone.

The sun begins to set and we find another tree to camp in, a mile or two away from the stream. We get set up, Ronan insisting that I use the sleeping bag again. The anthem begins and the picture of the girl from last night lights up the sky. She was from District 8. I shut my eyes, trying to get the image of her pale face out of my head. Mays rubs my arm gently, trying to soothe me. I pull lightly on my left ear, asking where the other tributes are.

"The Careers are about seven miles away from you, heading back to the lake. The others are scattered around but the closets tribute to you right now is the little one from District 11. She's about two miles away right now, sleeping in a tree." She sighs before saying, "And Gale is sleeping now too, perfectly safe." I allow myself to relax at her words, slipping deeper in my sleeping bag.

* * *

I wake up to Maysilee hissing in my ear. "Get up! Get up now!" My eyes flash open and I bolt up, searching around for the danger. I see animal's scurrying across the forest, running away from some unforeseen danger.

"Ronan!" I cry out, waking him from his slumber.

He sits up straight, spinning his head towards me, "What is it?"

In answer I point down to the forest floor, where the herd of animals is moving. He looks down then back up at me, madly trying to unbuckle himself from the tree, throwing the blanket at me. I releasing myself from my belt and throw everything in my backpack, hurling it on to my back. I grab the arrows and quiver, slinging them over my shoulder. Looking back at Ronan, I see that he has already climbing down. I follow him, reaching the base of the tree we watch as the animals sprint away. We exchange one look, then we're running in the same direction as them, knowing that our best bet is to follow the animals to safety.

"What is it?" Ronan asks me as we sprint away from the unknown threat.

I shake my head, "I don't know but I don't want to find out." We run and run but the animals are faster, moving through the underbrush with such a grace as Ronan and me trip over roots and fallen branches. I fall flat on my face, earning a mouth full of dirt and a scrap on my cheek. Ronan stops to help me up, and that's when I first feel the heat. I look over my shoulder and finally see what we're running from. A wall of fire.

Ronan must see it too because in an instant he pulls me up to my feet and dashing after the forest creatures. I follow his lead, fighting between the instinct to leave Ronan behind in my dust in effort to save myself and slowing up to help him. I slow up, moving at his pace as we race against the fire.

The heat is unbelievable, the smoke covering us from all sides. The forest transforms into an inferno, trees ablaze, burning branches falling from the sky. May is in front of us, silently guiding me in with direction to go. A moment later I figure out where she is leading us. The stream. I run faster, urging Ronan to follow. He tries, a line of sweat forming above his lips, his breathing turning rapid.

The smoke is getting worse, so bad that I can barely see Mays in front of me. A branch falls, catching Ronan's jacket on fire. He yelps out in pain as flames bite at his lower back. He rips off his backpack and his jacket in one move, stomping out the flames. I stop to help, ignoring his cries for me to keep moving. The fire is almost on top of us, and something burning hits the back of my jacket and I cry out as I hastily pat out the fire with my bare hands, causing them to throb in pain. We're inhaling too much smoke and I know that if we don't reach cover soon we'll pass out from it.

Ronan falls to his knees, gasping for air and I grab his wrist, pulling him forward. We stumble through the bushes and trees, branches scratching our faces and making us bleed. May yells at me to pull my shirt over my nose to breath and I do as she says, the thin shirt offering little protection. Smoke fills my lungs, my vision becoming bleary and there's a ringing in my ears.

"Your almost there! Almost there Madge!" May tells me again and again, trying to keep me going. Even with the crackling of the raging fire behind us I can still hear it. The sound of trickling water. I use all my strength, half pulling Ronan along, pumping my legs as hard as I can. He must hear it too because he lunges forward, trying to reach the sanctuary that the stream will provide. "Big breath!" I fill my lungs with air as we dive into the shallow water.

I try to open my eyes, but find all I can see is darkness. Ronan grabs my hands, holding me under with him, I wrap my arms around his body, feeling lightheaded. The ringing in my ears gets worse and I feel like my lungs will explode if I don't come up for air. I push away from him slightly, brining my head just out of the water. Smoke fills the air but I take another breath anyways, going under again. I wait for Ronan to go to the surface but he doesn't, just staying under water with his arms clutching me close.

My throat is burning and I wonder if burning to death is any better than drowning when I hear May's voice tell me it's all clear. I release Ronan, gasping for air as I surface. A second later Ronan comes up to, taking in a long deep breathes. The fire is gone but the smoke remains, the air still tasting bitter in my mouth . I haul myself out of the stream, falling against the muddy bank, my vision blurred once again. I feel Ronan collapse next to me, but I can't even turn my head to look at him. Something sliver comes floating down from the sky, but I'm too weak to catch it and it lands with a dull thud next to me. I stare up above me, the smoke thinning just enough for me to see the sky. _I wish there were stars_, is my last though before I pass out.

* * *

_"Peeta! Stop it!" I laugh as he throws a wadded up piece of paper at me again. He grins, ignoring my request, throwing another at me. It hits my head and I narrow my eyes at him. "That's it!" I tear a sheet of paper out of my binder, wadding it up in a ball and throwing it at it. He dodges out of the way, launching another at me. The Battle of Paper Balls begins and soon we're both lying on the floor, unable to stop laughing. _

_"Ahem!" I look up to see my father standing above me, a smirk on his face. "Aren't you guys supposed to be studying?"_

_I grin up at him, "Daddy I told you not to make Peeta my tutor!" Peeta starts laughing again and I join in, giggling at him. My father shakes his head at us, chuckling at our tomfoolery. _

_Peeta turns to me, his face serious, his mouth set in an angry line, "You won't be going to the Capitol. What can you have? Five entries? I had six when I was just twelve years old." _

_My eyes widen in confusion and hurt. "That's not my fault Peeta."_

_"No it's no one's fault. Just the way it is." He smirks at me, a different type of smirk than I've ever seen on him. "You don't stand a chance Princess."_

* * *

My eye flash open, my head still spinning. It takes me a moment to realize where I am. The smoke is cleared out, the sun is barely beginning to rise. I try to sit up and groan loudly, deciding that lying down is a much better position. I raise my hand to cover my eyes when I find it coated in a white paste. Ointment. The same kind that Cinna used on my hands to heal the cuts made from the broken urn. I turn my head a little to see a small pot attached to a sliver parachute. That must be what was the floating silver thing I saw last, a gift from a sponsor. I remember the aching in my hands when I put out the fire, now they feel perfectly fine. Ronan must have put the ointment on me when I was out. Ronan!

I bolt up to a sitting position, ignoring the pain in my head. I'm immediately relieved to find him still out cold, lying down on his stomach not two feet away from me. I inspect his body and find that there is some white ointment smeared on him too, his shirt raised up to expose the flesh on his lower back, now covered in medicine. By the looks of it he hasn't moved since last night, so who covered us in medicine?

"First tree to your right, up high." May tells me quietly, sitting cross-legged besides me. I glance up to the specified tree, squinting my eyes to make out the small figure. It certainly is up high, the branches practically completely concealing the creature. Small dark eyes peer down at me. Human eyes. Eyes I've seen before. Rue. She must have found us when we were passed out. But why would she help us?f my neckmall pot attached to a parachutebroken urn. an standing up. ching me close. p over roots and f

I clumsily get to my feet, moving slowly towards her tree. "Hi there." I say softly.

She shrinks back into the tree before timidly responding, "Hi."

"Did you do this?" I ask, gesturing to my hand. After a moment she nods and I smile up at her. "Thank you."

"Your welcome."

"Why don't you come down here?" She shrinks away again and I worry she might run off. "It's okay, I just want to talk to you." She nods and climbs down in record time. She stands before, her head down, looking nervous. "Your Rue right?" She nods again and I smile, "I'm Madge." She looks up at me, relaxing slightly. Up close she looks no older than ten or nine, her eyes bright and she stands tilted slightly upright on her toes, her arms extended to her sides, just like a little bird.

"Hi." She says again shyly

"You know, we'll live longer if we work together?" I phrase it as a question, giving her a small smile.

Her face perks up before falling again. She looks behind me at the still sleeping Ronan, doubt evident on her face. "You really want to be allies with me?"

I nod, "Sure, I saw you during training, you're a wiz at survival skills and you can hit any target with that slingshot." I wink at her and she smiles a little, still unsure. She peeks at Ronan again and I reassure her, "He's nice, he helped me escape the Careers."

Rue swallows hard, "Will he be okay with it." I think about how much he talked about his younger brother last afternoon and I know without a doubt that he'll receive the little girl with open arms.

"Absolutely." I say. She smiles at me, opening her mouth to say something when I hear a groan from behind me.

"Madge?" I spin around to see Ronan trying to sit up with a groan, rubbing his head. "What happened?"

"We passed out from all the smoke." I tell him, walking to him and helping him up.

He grabs one of my hands, looking at the white ointment, "What's all that?"

"Medicine. It came last night. You have some on your back too."

"Oh, thanks."

I smirk, "Don't thank me, thank her." I gesture over to where little Rue is still standing, watching us with cautious eyes.

Ronan smiles sweetly at the young girl, "Well thank you very much."

He turns to me, raising an eyebrow in question. In response I address Rue again, "So how about it? Allies?" Ronan's confused face changes into a smile as he turns back to the little girl, clearly on board with making our alliance into a trio.

Rue looks at us thoughtfully before a tiny smile forms on her lips and she nods her head. She crosses the distance between us, holding out her hand. "Okay, "she says as she shakes both me and Ronan's hands, "It's a deal." Ronan introduces himself to Rue as they shake and I can tell he already like the child.

My stomach growls and I know that Ronan must be hungry too. "How long were we out?"

"Just a few hours," Rue answers, "I was hiding from the fire behind a big rock when I saw you both come out of the water. I saw the parachute come down but neither of you moved to get it, so I made sure you were both okay and checked to see what it was. Since both of you had pretty bad burns, I figured it was probably some type of medicine and I speared it over your burns." For a moment I just stare at this tiny girl before of me. Most if not all the other tributes would have killed us on the spot, instead she treated our wounds.

I notice a long burn on her forearm, she treated us and didn't even think about using the medicine to help herself. Wordless I unscrew the cap and spread the medicine over her burn. A sigh escapes her lips and I smile at her, "You should have used some for yourself."

She shakes her head, "Oh, no, it wasn't mine to use." Her comment sends a wave of anger rushing through my body. This sweet innocent child should be home somewhere, singing nursery rhymes and skipping rope, not fighting for her life in a forest for some kind of twisted form of entertainment.

After talking for a bit about what our next move should be we decide first thing first is to catch some breakfast. Rue has an impressive collection of edible roots, berries and greens and she offers us both a few berries to munch on as we look for a more substantial breakfast.

She tells about her supplies, a small water skin, a homemade slingshot and an extra pair of socks. "I know it's not much, "she says as if embarrassed.

"Hey it's more than I got kiddo." Ronan jokes, and since he lost not only his backpack but his jacket in the fire, it's undeniably true.

There aren't many fishes in the stream today but still Ronan is able to catch enough for breakfast. We skewer the fish onto sticks and roast them over the fire. Not as good a method as yesterday but still gets the job done. After we eat we head out to the woods to do some more hunting. Using the wire from my pack I set up three quick snares, Maysilee helps, instructing me as I try to recreate the snare from training. When I'm stratified with them we keep moving, on the lookout for anything or anyone.

As we walk Ronan starts to chat, talking again about his little brother, telling a story about a time Kelby tried to put a hermit crab under his pillow while he was sleeping as a prank, only to get his finger pinched and end up screaming, thus waking Ronan up. I laugh as he talks, imaging the scene. Rue smiles, and tells us about her five younger siblings. Her face glows as she talks about them, the same glow that Ronan and Gale have when the rage about their siblings. Not for the first time in my life I curse being an only child. For awhile we ask each other random questions, just to have something to do. "Favorite animal?" Ronan ask when it's his turn.

"I've always wanted a pet dog, but I think my absolute favorite is mockingjays."

Ronan rolls his eyes, "Well that's a little obvious," he says motioning at my pin.

"Mockingjays are my favorite too," Rue says with a smile.

"You have mockingjays in District 11?" I ask.

"Oh yes, I have a few that are my special friends. We sing for hours back and forth to each other."

"We have mockingjays too, but I prefer dolphins. Nothing beats dolphins." Me and Rue laugh at him, and Rue nudges me, telling me it's my turn.

"What do you love most in the whole world?"

"Building sandcastles," Ronan says with a smirk. I shove him playfully and he laughs, answering honestly, "Swimming, if I could never step on dry land again I'd be more than happy."

"And _that's_ not a little obvious Mr. Mermaid?" I say teasingly.

Rue giggles at our antics before simply stating, "Music."

I grin down at her, "Me too."

Her eyes brighten as she nods excitedly, "That's right, you told Caesar that you play the piano." She smiles brightly, "I've always wanted to learn how to play an instrument, but I really love to sing, that's why I love your pin so much. It's how I decided that I can trust you." As if on cue a mockingjay appear on a nearby branch chirping away. Rue sings a simply four-note tune in a sweet clear voice. The small bird catches her tune and picks it up, singing away.

"Well aren't you a bird whisperer?" I ask poking her in her stomach. She giggles again and I laugh, throwing my arm around her shoulder, "Come on little bird, it's time to get a move on." She laughs again at the nickname and I think about how much it suits her.

By early afternoon we stumble across a strange looking bird that Rue calls a groosling. Before I can register what I'm doing I shoot an arrow through the bird's neck, killing it instantly. I wince as I see the blood oozing out of its wound. _I just killed an animal. I just took a creature's life._ But then my stomach growls and I quickly get over it. Food is food and right now, we need food. Ronan carries the dead bird as we make our way back to the stream, Rue collecting any berries and roots that she recognize along the way. I check the snares I set up to no avail but May assures me that they're set perfectly.

Once we get back to the stream its almost late afternoon and we quickly make a fire. Rue cleans the bird and I fell bad that she has to but neither Ronan nor I have really any clue how to and honestly I don't think I could stomach cleaning it at the moment. Rue swears that she's happy to help but still I feel guilty. After the bid is plucked, cleaned and cooked over the fire we fill our stomach with the delicious bird.

"Oh," Rue sighs taking another bite of the groosling, "I've never had a whole leg to myself."

Shame washes over me as I think about all the times she must have gone to bed hungry while I feasted in my father's mansion. I share a look with Ronan and I can tell he feels similar. Most think that District 11 would be one of the better fed districts since they grow the food but my father has told me otherwise. Honestly District 11 makes District 12 look like a dream. "Here," I say, "take the other one."

Her eyes widen, and she shakes her head, "No, it's okay."

"Really Rue have it." Ronan encourages, bumping her with his elbow. She looks at me for a second in deliberation. I hand her leg and she takes it with a smile. After the bird is gone I gather some more damson berries, which Rue also recognizes and we eat them as well as a red root that Rue dug up.

By the end of the meal I'm actually stuffed and exhausted. Ronan yawns loudly, echoing my thoughts of tiredness. The sun has just started to set but we decide to turn in early. I offer to let Rue sleep in my sleeping bag with me since she doesn't have one of her own and her face lights up, clearly happy that she doesn't have to spend the cold night in just her jacket. Since Ronan lost his jacket in the fire I give him mine to use during the night, since all he will have is the blanket. He assures me that he's been keeping warm with just the heavy blanket but in the end accepts my jacket.

We find a good tree with two sturdy branches next to each other. Rue scales the tree like a monkey and I laugh as I haul myself up. We finally get ourselves situated when I see Maysilee stiffen next to me. I eye her cautiously, waiting for her to tell me what's wrong when I hear it. Heavy footsteps, and something being dragged. "Stay here." I tell Rue, unbuckling us from the tree just in case. She looks afraid but still nods her head, sinking into the sleeping bag. I look over to see Ronan looking at me, worry on his face. I point wordlessly up, and he nods, following me higher up in the tree. Technically Rue would be the better one for this job, but I don't want her up here, fearful the Careers might spot her. We reach the top of the tree, the branches dangerously thin.

I look around, trying to find them when May tells me, "The clearing to your left, they'll be there in a second." I focus on the small clearing just as the Careers crash into it, Cato half dragging a girl with fair hair. At first I think that the girl is injured and he's trying to get her back to their camp but then I see her struggling against him, yanking against his hold. I squint, trying to place the girl when I hear Ronan gasp. I turn to him to see that his face has lost its color, his eyes wide and staring at the girl. And now I can place her, now I understand why she was been dragged along instead of going willingly.

"Ronan," I say quietly, tugging on his arm, "Ronan, don't. Listen to me Ronan, don't do it." But he's not listening to me, his complete attention is towards Marina as she fights against Cato. He releases her, letting her fall to the ground. He stands over her, telling her something I can't hear. She says something back and he backhands her across the face. She falls back against the ground and I try to get Ronan's attention again. "We need to leave, now. Ronan, please." Even with my bow and arrow there is no way that I could reach them at this far of a distance. Cato pulls her up again before hitting her once more, sending her flying into the grass. "Ronan."Cato grabs her by the neck, pulling her feet off the ground.

Before I can stop him Ronan yells out, "Marina!" Cato's head whips up, looking frantically around as he releases Marina from his death grip. I grab Ronan's arm, trying to pull him down but he won't budge and I can't leave him. Clove grabs her by her hair, hauling her to the middle of the clearing.

"Oooooh Roooooonan! We got something for you!" she shouts out, still holding Marina by her hair. She forces her onto her knees, standing behind her she opens her jacket and takes out a long bladed knife. She grabs her by the hair again, making Marina's head jerk backwards, placing the blade against the smooth skin of her neck. "Come out, come out!" Marina struggles against Clove, but she simple presses the knife harder against her skin, making a strangled scream come out of her mouth.

Ronan dashes down the tree and I dart after him, careful not to fall. "Ronan, please don't!" I beg him but he doesn't listen. He's a few branches above Rue and I grab him by his arm not letting him go, "No, I won't let you!" I cry out, fear growing rapid in my body.

"Let me go!" Ronan hisses at me, but I refuse.

"Madge what's happening?" Rue asks, looking up at us with big frightened eyes. In answer a scream fills the air and l lose my grip on his arm in shock at the pure pain in it. We both fall to the ground, nearly a ten foot drop. I hold back a yelp as a sharp pain shoots up my leg. Ronan pulls himself up, and I throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his waist and not letting go.

"Let me go! I have to help her! Let me go!"

"RONAN!" We freeze our struggle at Marina's cry, his face going extremely pale. "RONAN RUN! DON'T STOP! RUN! RUN!" Marina's voice cuts through the air and Ronan begins struggles against me again.

"They have her! They have her! Let me go Madge!"

"Ronan no! Please Ronan don't go back! She told you to run."

My grip slips and we fall to the floor again. Ronan scurries to his feet, "Stay with Rue!" he yells at me as he sprints towards the sound of Marina's screams.

Tears in my eyes I spin around to look at Rue, her face still scared and confused. "Wait here, don't leave this tree!" She nods once and I run after Ronan's retreating figure, yelling and begging him to stop. Maysilee screams in my ear to run away, to let him go but I can't. I can't let him go, I can't let him die.

"Go Madge!" he yells from behind his shoulder, "Run! I have to get Marina!" I don't though, I hobble after him, ignoring the throbbing of my ankle. He bursts through the trees into the clearing as I hear Marina scream in pain.

I'm almost to the clearing when I her begin to scream like a lunatic. "NO! NO! GET OUT OF HERE! RUN!" The pain in my leg is too much and I grab a tree for support, not able to take another step. I'm just a yard away from them, able to see the whole scene from behind the thin veil of trees. Ronan pulls a knife out his jacket pocket as Marina screams for him to run. Clove grabs her by her neck and slices her underneath her chin, stopping her screams as the canon sounds.

Mays screams in my ear to run but I don't, instead I hobble the last few strides, making it to the very edge of the clearing when I see Ronan collapses to the ground as Cato begins to walk up to him. I grab the knife from my belt and throw it with all my might, it lodging itself into Cato's left arm. He yells out, ripping the blade from his shoulder and Ronan turns back to me, tears streaming down his face. "RUN MADGE! RU-" Cato stabs his sword into his stomach. The canon booms once more as Cato turns to face me.

"Your turn."

***Dodges tomatoes thrown by angry readers* I'm sorry! I didn't want to kill Ronan off so soon but I kinda needed to in order for everything else to fall into plan :( I really loved him though R.I.P RONAN!**

**P.S. Just FYI, Ronan means "Little seal", Kelby means "place by the flowing water" and Marina means "from the sea" (and little fun fact here Marina is the name of the Little Mermaid in the original telling and Disney changed it to Ariel for the movie :D) **

**PLEASE REVIEW! PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE! ALL REVIEWERS GET A KISS FROM GALE/PEETA/CATO/RONAN! Love you guys :D**


	11. Pain and Peace

**Hello everyone! Thank you all to reviewed last chapter, I love you all! I'm sorry this last chapter took a little longer than expected but here it is! Enjoy :D**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN THE HUNGER GAMES**

_Chapter 11_

There is a moment when the pain becomes irrelevant. When the horror doesn't matter anymore. When the only thing that matters is self-preservation. For me that moment is now. The pain in my ankle all but disappears as I crash through the forest, sprinting away from the vicious tributes from District Two and the still, lifeless bodies of Ronan and Marina. I don't dare go back to Rue in fear that they'll find both of us, so I simply follow Maysilee as she guides me away. I don't question, I don't look back and I don't cry. Because if I cry then I won't be able to stop.

I run for more than an hour straight, even after May tells me that I've lost them , that they've given up and gone back to their camp. A large rock catches my foot and I fall to the floor, twigs and dirt scraping my face. I don't get up, preferring to just lay here on the ground. It's better on the ground. The tears begin to fall without my permission and since I know there's no use in fighting them, I give in completely, cradling my knees to my chest as the sobs rack through my body.

_It's my fault. If he didn't let me escape, if I didn't tell him to come with me, if I had picked out a tree farther away, if I had forced him to stay, if I had gotten there fast enough, if I had done _something, _Ronan would still be here. Alive. And now he's dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. My fault. My fault. My fault. My fault. _

"Stop it Madge. Do you hear me? Stop that right now," May says, stroking my hair as I continue to sob. "I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. There was nothing you could have done. Nothing, Madge." But she's the one that's wrong. He was my ally, we were supposed to look out for each other, to protect one another. And I didn't protect him. And now he's dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

The sun is completely set by now and I know that I have to get back to Rue. I lost one ally today, and I'm not about to lose her too. I get unsteadily to my feet, my ankle not hurting as much as before but still stinging. I brush off the dirt and leaves from my clothes, drying my face as best I can.

_No more tears, _I tell myself, keeping my head high, refusing to think about Ronan. Refusing to think of the sound of his laugh, the way he would twist his bracelet around his wrist when he was trying to think, how his whole body relaxed the moment that his feet hit the water, how he's cheeks turned red as he asked if we were allies, the way his whole face lit up like a candle whenever he smiled.

No, I won't think about that. And I certainly won't think about the sound of Marina screaming, how Clove grinned as she slit her throat, how Ronan fell to his knees, the way Cato sneered as he stabbed him in his stomach. And the blood. I will not think about the blood. How the red liquid poured out of Marina's slit throat, how it coated her once pale neck. _Who knew there was so much blood in such a little body?_

May instructs me on which way to go and I follow her without thought, my eyes hazy and unfocused. Once I begin to recognize where I am May stops offering me directions, which means she wants me to find Rue on my own. I stumble passed the trees, looking up into the branches for my little ally.

"Rue?" I whisper as loud as I dare into the darkness.

"Madge?" a voice squeaks out and my head darts up as I see two bright eyes staring down at me. Relieved, I give her a forced smile even though she can't see it in the dark.

"Yeah it's me." I say as I climb up to her. When I reach her, she throws her arms around me, squeezing me tight. I clutch her close as I feel her tiny body shaking with sobs. "You saw?" I ask even though I'm pretty sure I know the answer.

She nods, burying her head deeper in my chest. "I climbed up to the top of the tree and I saw Ronan and the girl from his district. I saw the Careers _kill_ them. And you didn't come back for so long, I was scared that they got you too."

"It's okay little bird, I'm right here." I hug her tight before releasing her. She wipes her nose on her sleeve and I kiss her forehead, "It's going to be okay." She nods, pretending to believe me.

We climb into the sleeping bag, but I know that I won't be getting any sleep. Any kind of exhaustion I had before the Careers showed up has been wiped out, leaving only adrenaline and anger in its place. My words from the first night I met Ronan plays in my ears, _"No one likes to kill."_ But now I know that I was wrong. Because the grins on Cato and Clove's faces as they murdered Ronan and Marina stated clear as day that this is what they like to do, what they were made to do. Kill.

Rue snuggles up against me, resting her head on my shoulder."Madge?"

"Yes little bird?"

"Did you hear the other cannon today? It was right after you run away, I-I thought it was you," she says, cuddling closer to me.

"No I didn't hear it, who do you think it was?"

She shrugs once, looking up at the sky, "You don't think that…you don't think it could be Thresh do you?"

I look down at her to find her staring at me with trusting innocent brown eyes, waiting for me to offer words of comfort, "I'm sure wasn't him, you don't have to worry about him."

"Do you worry about your district partner?"

I blush, "Of course I do."

"Do you really love him?"

My blush deepens as I imagine every Capitol citizen hanging off the edge of their seats, "Yes." I say simply, willing her to drop it.

She does for a moment before saying, "Thresh said he would ally with me if we ran into each other here, if we find him all three of us can form an alliance." She must mistake my silence for something other than fatigue because she quickly adds, "Oh and your District partner too, if you want."

She's looking up at me with those eyes again and I smile as I ruffle her hair, "Sure little bird, if we run into our district partners we can offer an alliance." That must satisfy her because she relaxes against me, looking relieved.

I grasp her hand under the cover of the sleeping bag as I see the Capitol seal appear in the sky. I don't worry about Gale, I know his face will not be in the heavens tonight, Maysilee would have told me. Still, as the anthem begins I feel myself freeze up, staring up at the sky, wishing…wishing…wishing what exactly? That Ronan's face won't be up in the sky? That somehow if his picture isn't shown then it was all a bad dream? No matter what I'm wishing for it doesn't come true as his sweet, innocent face lights up the sky. There's a sharp pain in my stomach as I stare at his picture in the sky before it fades too quickly to Marina's picture. Marina, the young girl who thought that staying with the Careers would mean a better chance at survival, who screamed for Ronan to run, who died because she let us escape. But then her picture is gone too.

And suddenly, I feel like screaming. It's not fair. It's not fair that that's all I will ever have, a ten second glimpse of Ronan's snapshot and then he's gone forever. I don't realize I'm crying again until Rue snuggles closer to me wrapping her arms around me. I'm not sobbing like I was before, instead the tears roll silently down my face. I press three fingers to my lips and raise my arm up to the night sky. A silent goodbye. _Goodbye my friend._

* * *

For a brief moment, right before the sleep fades from my eyes, I forget. I forget where I am, why I'm here, what I've lost. But then I feel my swollen red-trimmed eyes and the moment of bliss is gone. It's a gloomy, overcast day but I know that we should get moving anyways. I don't want to be here anymore, it's too close to where it happened.

I wake Rue up, gently coaxing her to open her eyes. Once she's awake we pack up and climb down the tree. My ankle is all but fine today, just slightly sore. "Are we going to catch some fish for breakfast?" Rue asks.

I can feel a lump rise in my throat but I nod once, "Well, we're certainly going to try." The stream is only a ten minute walk from the tree and as soon as we get there Rue sets off to collect more berries and roots as I try to catch us some fish. After my third failed attempt at casting the net I string an arrow onto my bow and point it at the water, watching the fish swim lazily by me. I release the arrow, succeeding in shooting a fish. I hold it up, a victorious smile on my face.

"Well that's one way to do it." Rue laughs, her hands full of berries. I laugh along with her, shooting three more fish before bringing them back to her. I take the arrows out of their bodies, cleaning the arrowheads off in the grass before I gut and clean the fish, trying to remember Ronan's instructions on how to do it. Mays helps, giving me directions on what to do and finally all four fish are ready to cook.

Rue starts the fire and we hook the fish onto sticks, roasting them over the fire like we did yesterday. "Are you okay Madge?"

I nod, trying to look less depressing, "Of course I am," I tell her, fiddling with my pin.

She looks at me for a moment before pulling out a necklace out of her shirt, "This is my token." She explains with a smile. Its looks like its woven out of some kind of grass and has three small carved wooden stars charms dangling from it. "It's a good luck charm. The stars stand for truth, sprit and hope."

I smile at her, "It's very pretty."

"Thanks, my mom made it for me." After we finish the fish we decide to head away from the stream, the Careers found us here once already and it would foolish to stay here any longer.

We pack up and start heading out, on the lookout for game and edible plants as we go. I suddenly remember my snares and tell Rue that we should go check and see if they caught anything. She agrees, eager about the promise of meat other than fish. We're about a quarter of a mile away from the first snare when she stops in her tracts, looking around at out location. "I found a patch of berries near here, I remember I passed that big rock to get to it."

"Great," I say with a smile, "let's go pick ourselves some berries."

"I can go by myself, you go check the snares."

I shake my head, "No way are we splitting up."

"We'll get more done that way. Besides it's not like we'll be very far from each other." I don't like it, especially after losing Ronan yesterday, but it does make sense. Seeing my distress Rue opens her mouth and sings four simple notes. Almost immediately I hear the tune being echoed by the white and black winged mockingjays up in the trees. "We can use it to signal each other."

"Alright," I agree since there's no sense in arguing with her, "We'll meet back here at the rock. Don't take too long and be careful. Signal me when you're on your way back here." She nods and I hand her one of the knives from my backpack, just in case she runs into trouble. I bend down, hugging her once before letting her go. I watch as she walks away towards the berry patch and I can't help but feel that no good is going to come of this.

* * *

Maysilee leads the way, oddly quiet again today and I follow after her, trying to keep my footsteps light. As I reach my first snare, I find to my great surprise a medium size brown rabbit. _Great, I killed Peter Cottontail,_ I hold back a flinch as I release it from the snare, reminding myself that this is what I need to do in order to survive. I reset the snare and walk the ten yards to my last two traps. Two fluffy squirrel carcass greats me at both of them and I grin in spite of myself. Looks like the girl from Town can hunt after all.

As I rest the last two snares I hear a handful of mockingjays singing Rue's song. I relax slightly, relieved that she's on her way back. I sing the tune back softly, telling her I'm heading back too. I smile as I walk, happy at the idea of fresh meat and a full stomach.

I reach the rock only to discover my little ally is nowhere to be seen. Worry ebbs through my body as I bite my lip, telling myself she'll appear any second now. But she doesn't. I sit down, gathering a few pieces of dry wood to create a fire to cook the meat over and wait. I sing the tune again, hoping it will cause her to hurry up and get here. Still nothing. I pull on my ear as I look at May but she doesn't respond either not seeing me or choosing to ignore me. Probably the latter.

She said the berry bush was near here, she should have gotten there before I reached my second snare. And the mockingjays delivered her tune meaning that she was coming back before I even reset the traps. After another minute I break down calling her name as loud as I dare. "Rue? Rue!"

Nothing. But then, so quiet I almost miss it I hear her call my name. I'm on my feet in an instant, twirling around to try to figure out where the sound came from. "Rue!" I call again.

The mockingjays around me fall silent, all of them but one, whistling a long high note before falling silent with the rest of them. I don't waste time asking Maysilee who or what is coming, instead I scamper up the closest tree, hoping that I'll have the advantage from above. There's a rustling in the trees and my blood runs cold as I imagine Cato coming towards me, my hand griping the handle of my knife. A boy emerges from the trees and without a second thought I jump down from my perch, falling down on top of his back. He cries out, trying to rip me off of him. We're rolling on the ground until I grab him by the back of his neck, forcing him down. In one fluid motion I have him pinned to the ground, me straddling his torso, my knife touching his throat.

"Madge!" I don't dare take my eyes off the unfamiliar boy, not even as Rue falls down next to me. "Madge it's okay, it's just Thresh. He won't hurt us!" her voice laced with shock.

Judging by the boy's enormous size, I highly doubt that, and I refuse to move my dagger away from his neck. Maysilee says something to me, but I don't hear her, too focused on this boy in front of me.

"Madge?" a voice calls out in surprise. I stiffen as I turn my head to face the all too familiar voice.

"Gale?" I squeak, staring at the boy in front of me, not trusting my eyes. There are tears in my eyes and I'm grinning like a fool but I honestly couldn't care less. He's grinning at me, as if he's trying to hold in a laugh.

"Hey Hawthorne? You think you can get your girlfriend off me now?" I look back down at Thresh, my cheeks burning red as I jump off him.

"Sorry about that." I say, trying to keep my eyes off Gale. Thresh shrugs it off and Rue giggles. I behind down to look at her in her face, trying to appear stern, "Where were you? I heard your signal but you weren't here." I try to use the same tone of voice my father uses when he's being strict with me but end up sounding like a worried mother.

"I'm sorry, I was picking berries and on my way back Thresh found me." Her face lights up as she looks back at the boy and I look back up at Gale, he's expression still one of surprise and amusement.

Before I can stop myself I throw myself into his arms, wrapping arms around his neck. He's frozen for a second before his arms wrap around my waist, holding me so tight I can barely breathe. I can hear laughter behind us but I'm too giddy to care.

"Now can you finally stop whining Twelve?"

"Shut it Eleven." Gale mumbles, his voice muffled by my hair.

I let go of him, curiosity getting the better of me, "You know each other?"

"We're allies." Gale explains smiling down at me, as if he still can't believe I'm right in front of him. "So I see this is where you ran off to," he says, facing Thresh, " Thought the Careers got you for a second there, the way you screamed."

"I didn't scream." He grumbles and I hold back a giggle. "I just didn't expect to get jumped by Miss Twelve here. Didn't you say she was _shy._" Gale laughs, one arm, loping around my waist and I have to remind myself to breathe. "Well it seems I accomplished what you weren't able to. Looks like someone owes me a rabbit leg." Thresh laughs and Gale rolls his eyes.

"What did you accomplish?" Rue asks, looking up at Thresh with an admiration similar to that of a little sibling.

"I found you two," he says ruffling her hair.

"You were looking for us?" I ask surprised.

Thresh nods his head and Gale explains, "Me and Hawthorne here made an agreement to try to find our district partners." He says before facing Rue, "Who knew you would be allied together already? If _somebody_ had stuck to the plan and ran to me instead of into the bloodbath then I wouldn't even have to be searching for her in this godforsaken forest." Thresh poked Rue and she blushed red under her russet skin.

"So you two are allies?" Gale whispers to me. I nod and he smiles, "Figures, only you would go looking to pair up with the smallest tribute here." I scoff at that and his smile grows._ How can I miss a smile so much?_

Gale sizes me up, his eyes widening at the fresh game in my hands, his mouth almost hanging open when he sees the bow and quiver of arrows on my shoulder. "How'd you get that?" he asks astonished.

"It's a bit of a long story." I tell him, not wanting to go into detail about the Careers and Ronan just yet. He nods once but I can tell he's curious.

I sit down, quickly making a small fire to cook the meat over, Gale plopping down next to me. I don't bother hiding my smile as I peer up at him. Rue drags Thresh over to the fire and Gale makes quick work of skinning and cleaning the meat while Rue chats with Thresh. This is the first time I ever heard him talk above a mutter and it surprises me that he's actually not as frightening as I would have thought. He laughs allot, cracking jokes that make Rue giggle until her face is red. When she asks him how he became allies with Gale he smirks, "I spared his life."

Gale snorts besides me, "Did not."

Thresh ignores him, still addressing Rue, "So I'm running away from the bloodbath and I don't even get fifty yards away before I run across _this _guy," he says gesturing to Gale, "He's got a spear pointed right at my head, I got a sword pointed right at his stomach so neither of us going anywhere when Hawthorne here says, '_Want to team up_?'" Rue laughs at his impression of Gale's voice and I bite my tongue to hold in a chuckle, "And I say 'Sure why not?' and just like that, boom we're allies."

Gale shakes his head, looking down at me, "Don't believe anything this guy says, he's a compulsive liar."

Thresh laughs again and I find myself thinking that maybe he's not so bad. We roast the meat over the fire, the rabbit fat dripping off the sides. As the meat cooks I can't stop looking away from Gale, trying to convince myself that he's really here. Thresh clears his throat and I force myself to turn to him, "So, we got ourselves an alliance?"

Rue's eyes widen as she looks at me, pleading me to say yes. I don't even have to think about it, any alliance with Gale is an alliance I'm willing to take. And even though I don't know Thresh, Rue and Gale trust him and Maysilee isn't telling me otherwise. I nod, sticking out my hand. Thresh takes it, and we shake once, "Allies."

Rue puts her hand out to Gale and he smiles at the little girl, shaking her hand. She turns to Thresh with her hand out and I hold back a grin. I've never seen her so happy. "Madge?"

I turn to see Gale smirking at me, his hand outstretched. I blush, shaking his hand, unable to look away from his stormy grey eyes. After we shake he keeps holding unto my hand, his finger interlacing with mine. "I'm so glad your okay." He says, looking at me with an emotion I can't place.

My cheeks turn scarlet as I say, "I'm glad your okay too. You have no idea how glad I am." He smiles at me and my breath catches in the back of throat.

"Hey Hawthorne? So does this mean I can finally stop hearing you worrying about Miss Twelve?" Rue laughs and Thresh grins, "_She's so freaking annoying, she's good at everything she tries. Was that a cannon? Do you think it was her? You don't think the Careers caught her do you?_" he says, trying to impersonate Gale again.

A laugh escapes my mouth, my face turning redder by the second as I see Gale narrow his eyes at him. "That wasn't nearly as bad as your bragging big brother act, _Rue is so smart, she's the smartest kid I know. And you should see her in the field she works harder than anyone._"

Rue giggles as she says, "Well Madge says your name in her sleep."

My mouth gaps open, my eyes widening, "I do _not_!"

She just grins, nodding at me like the little traitor she is, "Yes you do, even Ronan told me you did." Her words stop as my smile fades, my face going pale. "Madge, I'm sorry." She says, her eyes watery and her voice apologetic.

"It's okay little bird. I'm going to try to find us some more game, this won't feed us all." I say, quickly getting to my feet, slinging my bow and quiver on my shoulder.

"I'll come with you." Gale says, grabbing his spear. I nod not looking at his face as I walk away from the fire, walking deeper into the forest. We don't say anything, my feet taking me farther and farther away till Gale gently grabs my arm to stop me. "Hey, you alright?" I nod, not meeting is gaze. He sighs letting go of my arm to take my hand, "So, whose Robin?"

"Ronan," I correct him, still staring at my feet. I take a deep breath before looking up at him and telling him everything. From how Cato found me at the stream, Ronan letting me go, running from the fire, finding Rue, to Ronan trying to save Marina. "Cato killed him, stabbed him in the stomach." I tell him, wrapping my arms around myself.

He doesn't say anything for a moment before he envelopes me in his arm , crushing me to him chest. "I'm so sorry Madge." My arms wrap around him as I take in the scent of pine that clings to his clothes. He rests his head in my hair and I feel my heart pound in my chest. "We better get moving if we want to catch lunch," he says, letting me go.

I smile at him as he leads the way. After a few yards of walking he holds up his hand to signal me to stop. I freeze, then see what he's looking at, a group of fluffy feathered gooslings. Gale aims at one with his spear but I tap his shoulder to stop him. He turns to me with an annoyed look before I hand him my bow, already loaded with an arrow. He raises an eyebrow at me but takes the bow anyways, aiming and shooting a bird in two seconds. Before the birds get a chance to take flight I throw my knife into one more, right in the neck. He grins at me, "Nice shot."

I beam up at him before going up to the dead creatures. Gale retrieves the arrow from the one he shot and I clean the blade of my knife off in the grass. He grabs both birds by the neck as we head back to camp, and I catch him looking at me more than once. Or maybe it was him catching me looking at him.

By the time we reach Rue and Thresh, the two squirrels and rabbit are already cooked, as well as an assortment of roots that Rue and Thresh apparently gathered. Gale skins the birds and begins to roast them over the fire. Meanwhile Rue and I begin to dig into the two squirrels, both the boys claiming that they are not yet hungry since they just ate a short while ago.

Having never eaten squirrel before I was expecting the worst, but I find it oddly good, the meat texture being almost that of a chicken but with the taste being that of a rabbit. Not as awful as I dreamt up. Mays smiles at me across the fire and I can't help smiling back, not caring if the audience thinks I'm crazy for smiling at nothing. I do worry though about how my parents are taking all of this. How does it make them feel to watch their little girl, who always had a scrap of food to spare for any stray animal, kill a living creature. _Not as bad as seeing her die,_ I tell myself.

The goosling cooks quickly, the grease and fat dripping off its meat. We share the rabbit and goosling amongst ourselves, filling our stomachs until we can't move. Still, after eating for at least an hour, half of a goosling remains as well as a fair amount of roots. We decide to save it for tomorrow. Thresh and Gale both have backpacks full of supplies, combined between the two of them they have a lighter, a bottle of iodine, two water bottles, three knives, a sleeping bag, an assortment of bandages, a dozen biscuits that are now down to eight, a pack of dried fruit, a flashlight, a spear obtained at the Cornucopia and an extra jacket.

Rue and I show them our supplies and Thresh's eye widen as he grabs the sunglasses, excitement in his voice, "Do you know what these are?"

I shrug my shoulders, "Sunglasses."

He snorts at my response and Rue grins at me, "They're night vision glasses, they sometimes hand them out to us when we work late in the fields." Night vision glasses. A smile comes to my lips and I see Gale grinning besides me.

"Do you think the Careers have any of these?"

Rue nods, "They have two pairs, I was spying on them the day before the fire happened."

"Did you see what lies on the backside of the Cornucopia?" I ask her.

Thresh is the one to actually answer me, "It's a field. We were hiding out in there for awhile but the fire drew us out." A forest, a field and a lake, that's all this arena has to offer. I suppose it could be worse, one year the tributes were thrown into a frozen wasteland, snowing and raining constantly. If the cold didn't kill you, the mutated predators would. Needless to say those Games ended quickly, the Capitol audience growing bored of watching tribute freeze to death.

It's midafternoon by now and we pack up our supplies and keep moving. "Here," Gale says, handing me back the bow and quiver.

I shake my head, thrusting the weapons back in his hands, "No, you're better at it than me. And besides I got my knives." He looks at me once before smiling and slinging the weapons back on his shoulder.

Gale leads the way and I grow weary as we walk, it being the first time I hadn't followed Mays through the forest. But May still walked next to me, uncomplaining and silent so I figured that Gale must know his way enough for her not to be too paranoid. I wonder vaguely about our sleeping arrangements, since both Thresh and Gale are far too big to be able to climb high enough into a tree to be safe. Which means sleeping on the ground. I doubt Gale will be very happy about that. Before long we reach another small stream, flowing underneath the side of a overhang, a few rock formations forming around the stream. "Turn left at the next rock." Maysilee tells me in my ear.

I do as she says, trying to make it look like I'm just taking in the surroundings. Rue calls out my name, asking me what I'm doing. "I think I see something," I tell her, watching my footing as I climb over the jagged rocks, following May into the stream. I hear Thresh mutter something but I pay him no attention, scrabbling to catch up to my aunt. She stops finally, hovering above me with a grin on her face.

I frown as I look around, trying to find why she dragged me out here. There's a rock leaning on the side of the overhang and I lean against it taking a moment to catch my breath when I feel it give a little. I look back at it, an idea forming in my head. I grab a hold of the edge of the rock, pulling it away from the wall. It's not very heavy, and I feel it budge more. I hear a splashing in the water and Gale appears besides me grabbing grasping of the rock and pulling it towards us. The rock falls away to reveal a dark cave, not very long but with a high ceiling and wide walls.

Gale laughs out loud, throwing his arm around my shoulder, before turning back to look at Rue and Thresh's surprised faces. "Looks like we have shelter for the night." Thresh lets out a funny little whoop and Rue grins at me.

It doesn't take very long to organize our supplies and store them in the cave, placing the rock over the entrance to mask it from any predators or tributes. With only our weapons at hand we head back into the woods, looking for meat for supper. Rue finds another berry bush she recognizes and Gale manages to shoot another goosling and two more squirrels.

While we walk Rue comes up to me, placing her small hand in mine. Looking down at her I can tell something is not right, "What's wrong little bird?"

She looks at me nervously, "I told Thresh about Ronan."

"Oh, yeah I told Gale about him too."

"So you aren't mad I told him?"

"Why would I be mad?"

The tiny girl shrugs, "I don' know, I just thought you might be upset that I told him."

I smile at her, shaking my head, "No, of course not." Thresh calls out to her, waving her over with a grin on his face, triumphantly holding up some kind of white root. Rue looks back at me, and I laugh, ruffling her wild hair, "Go, get out of here." She giggles, running over to Thresh, saying something about what a great find and a rare root.

Gale shoots another squirrel and I sigh, wishing that I could contribute to supper as much as everyone else is. "Medium size brown bird, in the tree up high."

I look around at the surrounding trees, not seeing the bird Mays is talking about until she points it out to me. A good distance away sits a brown feathered bird of some kind, blending in perfectly with the leaves and bark of the tree. My knife leaves my hand, penetrating the bird's heart and killing it instantly. I smile in spite of myself, jogging over to collect the fresh kill.

I hear a long whistle and turn to see Thresh smiling at me, looking impressed. "Nice eye, I didn't even see that thing."

I found my smiling back at him, "Lucky shot I guess."

He laughed, "Lucky shot you found the cave too right? You need to give yourself more credit Madge." He chuckled again and I couldn't help but join him.

"What's so funny?" Gale asks, walking up to us.

Thresh shrugs, "Your girlfriend just hit a bird in a tree some twenty yards away with her knife. I told her she needs to stop being so damn modest."

Gale laugh, grabbing my hand, "Yeah, I told you she's annoying." I shove him playful and he laughs, not letting go of my hand. Rue runs up to us, a mound of dug up roots in her arms. We decide that this will be sufficient dinner and head back to camp.

Rue walks ahead of us, eager to get back to our little cave. "Hey, wait up little bird." I say, not wanting her to go too far ahead of us.

"Little bird?" Thresh asks, arching his eyebrow.

I blush, looking down at the ground, "Yeah, that what I nicknamed her. Don't you think it suites her?"

He smirks, turning to look at Rue again, "Hmm, yeah I guess it does." I smile back, surprised at how easy it is to talk to this giant of a boy.

We reach the cave in no time, and since the sun hasn't begun to set yet we can still make a fire without worrying if the Careers will see it. Gale and Thresh skin and clean the meat while I try to make myself useful by gathering and purifying water from the stream and helping Rue roast the roots. After the food is cooked and we all gorge ourselves on roots and fresh meat, the odd bird I caught was tough and chewy but had a good flavor similar to that of turkey, we lay our sleeping bags on the floor of the cave, the temperature already starting to drop even though it is not yet night.

Gale doesn't have a sleeping bag and I offer him my blanket to sleep in, fighting the wave of nostalgia that hits me as I think about another boy that had used the same blanket for warmth not twenty four hours ago. I wonder what he would think of me and Rue's additions to our alliance. I know he would have liked Thresh, Gale might have taken some getting used to though. Gale sits down next to me, his fingers laced with mine. I smile as I lean into him, and for a moment I allow myself to forget that this alliance is only temporary, that only one of us can go home. For just a moment I imagine that we're not running for our lives, being hunted by crazed teenagers. For just a moment, I pretend that we're normal kids, that we're all friends, that we haven't seen and done things that we'd never imagine in our worst nightmares. No, for just a moment, we aren't in the Games. For just a moment, I'm actually happy. And then the cannon sounds and the moment is over.

**Yay GALE IS BACK! I know everyone was missing him, me included so he's back! I hope you guys liked this chapter, PLEASE REVIEW! Kisses to all!**


	12. Temporary Serenity

_Hello everyone! I know this chapter is shorter than usual but I'm super busy with college! Enjoy :D_

**_Chapter 12_**

A moment after the cannon sounds the anthem begins. I peer out of the cave to look and see who it was. The crippled boy from District 10 picture appears. I don't remember much about him, he kept to himself at training, his limp in his right leg marking him as undesirable for any potential alliances.

Gale lifts his eyebrow in question and I tell him who it was. Everyone falls silent for a second and I see little Rue looking down at her lap. I try to give her a reassuring smile but I can't help but think how wise it was to form such a big alliance. What are we going to do if it comes down to us? I shudder as I imagine Gale standing above me, bow in his hand, aimed at my heart. I shake my head, ridding myself of the image.

I volunteer for first watch, telling Rue to go ahead and use my sleeping bag. She protest for only a instant, wanting to stay up with me, but the weight of the day has taken a toll on her and she dozes off before she even finishes her statement of her not being tired.

I smile, tucking a stray strand of her wild hair behind her ear. The boys are able to pull the rock almost back into its original place so the entrance to our cave is concealed. There's a large enough crack between the wall of the cave and the edge of the rock for me to sit and keep watch comfortably. Thresh nods a good night to me, nestling into his sleeping bag. "I'll take the shift after you, wake me when you're tired." Gale says, his hand still in mine. I nod as he lets go of me, and I find myself missing his warmth almost instantly.

Holding back a sigh I lean against the wall of the cave, digging the night vision goggles out of my backpack to watch for any potential dangers. Of course keeping watch is virtually unnecessary since Maysilee would tell me if anything was wrong but it's not as if I could tell anyone that.

Rue's gentle snoring echoes in the small cave and I take comfort for the fact that she at least is able to sleep soundly. The night gradually gets darker and I fold my legs up to my chest, biting my lip as the temperature drops. Whatever small comfort my jacket could have offered is gone now, I gave it to Ronan shortly before the run in with the Careers. And with Gale snug in my blanket it looks like I'll just have to tough it out for the night.

Mays sits next to me, my arm tingling as her bare arm touches mine. I glance at her and find her staring into the night sky, with a peculiar look on her face. _She looks tired, _I think to myself. But that's impossible, how can a sprit be tired? But she is, the fatigue is plain on her face. Perhaps tired is not the word, she just looks drained. For a moment I put myself in her shoes, losing your life in the Games, having to see your loved ones mourn you then move on with their lives, having the man you love grow old as you stay forever sixteen. Yes, I would be drained too.

The wind picks up and even with the rock blocking much of its impact it still makes me wince. A voice clears its throat and I stifle a squeal. I look up to see Thresh smirking down at me in a very annoying way. I roll my eyes at him, "Couldn't sleep?"

"Nope, the sound of your chattering teeth is keeping me up." My cheeks darken for some reason and he sits down next to me, the smirk still on his face. "What happened to your jacket?"

"I gave it to my ally before he was killed. He lost his in the fire."

"Ronan right? Rue told me about him. Sounds like a good kid."

I smile slightly, "He really was." We sit in silence for a second before I tell him to go back to bed, "You need your sleep."

He snorts, "Please, I think I can stay up longer than you can."

I scoff, "Highly doubtable."

"Do I hear a wager Twelve?" he says, smirking again.

I hold back a laugh, "Only an ally of Gale's would be making bets while trying to survive the Hunger Games."

Thresh chuckles mildly, "True, that guy's an odd one."

"Try living in the same district as him."

He rolls his eyes, "Well from what I hear you've been crazy about him since you were in diapers so you must be into oddballs." My cheeks turn scarlet as I try to glare at him. He chuckles again, "You know blushing pretty much ruins the scowl."

"You're not very nice, I don't know why Rue was so worried about you," I tease.

His expression immediately softens at the mention of the little girl, "She's a sweet kid."

"The sweetest," I agree.

"Have you seen her secret weapon yet?"

My eyebrows burrow in confusion, "I don't think so, unless her secret weapon is being adorable."

He grins, shaking his head, "Ask her to show you tomorrow, she's amazing."

"What is it?" I ask, impatiently.

Thresh grins slyly at me, "She can fly." The confusion must be plain of my face because he laughs again, "Believe me, it's true.

I roll my eyes, causing to grin at me. _Does he ever stop grinning?_

Another gust of wind hits me and I cannot contain the shiver it causes. I wrap arms tighter around my legs, biting my tongue to try to stop trembling. Thresh gives me an odd look before getting to his feet and walking back to his backpack that rests next to his sleeping bag.

"Here," he says, throwing a wadded up bundle at me.

The bundle lands perfectly in my lap and I untangle it to reveal the black jacket that was in Thresh's backpack. "No, its okay I'm fine." I say, handing it back to him as he sits down again.

Now it's his turn to roll his eyes, "Put the jacket on Twelve, I'm not going to let any ally of mine freeze to death."

I bite my lip in consideration when another gust of wind hits my face. I quickly slip the jacket on, zipping it all the way up. The result is heavenly, my body immediately beginning to thaw. "Thank you," I say shyly, smiling at him.

"You're welcome."

"Ahhh," I turn to see Gale stretching his long arms, his mouth open in a yawn. I realize how close I am sitting to Thresh and instantly scoot slightly away from him, as my cheeks begin to color again. Gale stands, making his way over to us with his silent tread. "What you doing up?" He asks Thresh, raising his eyebrow at him.

He shrugs, "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd keep Madge company."

"How nice of you," Gale says, his eyes narrowed and with a slight edge to his voice.

_What's his problem?_, I wonder as I look up at him towering over me. Gale looks down at me, his expression softening, "Get some rest, I'll watch for awhile."

It's only been about four hours since my shift began and I bite my lip as I look up at him, "You sure you're not tired? I can watch for a little while longer."

Gale scoffs, "Yeah, I'm sure you can. You look exhausted, go to bed." He's using the voice from back home, the voice that means business and that no matter how long you argue it out he's not going to budge. So I simply nod once, stretching my stiff limbs and stand up.

"Alright then, good night," I say, handing Gale he goggles and walking to my sleeping bag.

"Good night," Gale says, smiling slightly.

"Sweet dreams Madge," Thresh grins, winking at me. I laugh, shaking my head as I crawl into the sleeping bag with Rue still snoring lightly.

"You know as long as you got this I think I'll get some sleep too. Suddenly I'm exhausted, " I hear Thresh say.

Gale scoffs again, "Of course you are. Go to sleep you Good-for-nothing."

Thresh laugh fills up the cave as I hear him go to his sleeping bag. "Have a good night Lover boy."

"Shut it Eleven." Gale growls. Thresh laughs once more before falling silent, a moment later his snoring joining in with Rue's.

My cheeks burn crimson as I think about Thresh calling Gale Lover boy. Lover boy. Lover. Love. _Enough Madge, now is not the time to be thinking about him like that, stop kidding yourself he'll never see you as anything more than the Mayor's daughter._ But still, I imagine Gale sweeping me into his arms, professing his love for me before kissing me senseless. Thinking silly girl thoughts that will never come true but still I can dream, that's all I can do now, is dream. So I allow myself to dream of all the things that won't happen and a small smile appears on my face just before I drift off to sleep.

* * *

"Wakey wakey! Time to rise and shine!" I force back a groan at Maysilee's usual morning mantra, opening my eyes to see the dim light beginning to enter our cave. I glance over at my side and see the still sleeping Rue, cuddled up next o me. Gale is still were I last left him, sitting perfectly still at the mouth of the cave.

"Good morning," I say as I let myself out of the sleeping bag and walk over to him.

"Good morning," he replies with a small smile. I grin in spite of myself, sitting down next to him.

"Have you been up this whole time?"

He shrugs, "Yeah."

"You should have woken me up."

"It's alright, I slept enough." He envelopes my hand in his and I can't help but beam at him. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like a rock."

He chuckles, "I heard you snoring."

I blush, pushing his arm playfully, "I do not snore."

"You do too," he teases, "worse than Thresh."

"What's worse than Thresh?" Rue says in a sleepy voice, appearing behind us.

"Madge's snoring," Gale informs her.

I roll my eyes, "Rue please tell Gale that I do not snore."

The little girl laughs, shaking her head, "Sorry, you do snore pretty loud Madge."'

Gale smirks at me smugly and I scowl in reply. Thresh wakes up a moment later and we quickly grab our supplies and set out in search of breakfast.

We walk deep into the tress, me leading this time with Rue skipping next to Thresh and Gale binging up the rear. I fiddle with my pin, thinking about home again. Is my mother alright? Is she taking her medicine? Is my father getting home in time to help her or is he burying himself in paperwork like he does so very often? I sigh as I think about them, tracing the outline of the mockingjay with my ring finger.

Almost as if I called him, a young black and white feathered mockingjay appears in front of me, perched low on a branch. I smile a little, whistling softly to the small bird. He whistles back my tune and I can't help the smile that comes to my lips. This time I open my mouth singing the four note tune that Rue taught me earlier. He copies me again.

"I think you found a friend." I turn to see Thresh grinning at me.

I smile, "Rue told me you have mockingjays in District Eleven too."

He nods, "Their nests are scattered around the orchards, so there is always a few nearby." He whistles a long low note and the bird quickly sings it back to him. "They are certainly interesting creatures, smart, adaptable, surviving against the odds." He looks at my golden pin and smirks, "But I guess you would already know that."

"What are you guys talking about?" Rue asks, her and Gale walking up behind us.

"Nothing, just mockingjays," I tell her, gesturing to the one sitting on the branch. Her face lights up at the sight of it, and she sings a short simple tune in her strong clear voice. The bird mimics her song and I smile at my littlest ally. "My nick name really does suit you, huh little bird?"

Thresh laughs, "You haven't seen her hidden talent yet."

I remember Thresh's words from last night about Rue's secret weapon, smiling as I ask her to show me what it is. She shakes her head bashfully and I smile bigger, "Please?" I beg her.

She complies finally, running over the closet tree and scaling it quickly. Well I already knew she was fast so that can't be her secret skill. She climbs dangerously high into the branches before positioning her body at the very edge of the tree, both her arms wrapped loosely around the branch, her feet swaying beneath her.

_She's going to fall,_ I think as I see her swaying from the branch, her body facing the tree a few feet away from the one she is in. She swings her body once, letting go of the branch. I hold back a cry as I see her fly through the sky, before her arm shoots out, grabbing a hold of the tree branch. She leaps from tree to tree, never once slowing her pace and never losing her grip.

When she climbs down to us, Gale chuckles amused and I engulf her in a hug as Thresh applauses, "You never told me you could fly through the trees like that!"

She grins at me wholeheartedly and I can tell that this is one of the few things she's truly proud of.

Gale has apparently been able to shoot three squirrels and Rue was found four eggs of some kind in a nest so we decide to go back to the cave to eat. Once there I get the net from my backpack and successfully catch about half a dozen fish.

Once we eat we try to think of what our next move should be. "The Careers are too strong right now," Gale says, "their alliance needs to lose members and we can't just wait until they turn on each other."

Thresh nods in agreement, "There must be some way to even the playing field."

"They have everything they need to survive at the Cornucopia. Food, supplies, you name it they got it." I tell them. Then I remember what Ronan told me about the booby traps. "They have traps set up, the land mines, the boy from District Three rigged them up to protect them and the supplies."

"How is it triggered?" Gale asks.

I shrug, "I don't know, I think it's just if anyone steps on them. All the supplies were still stacked in the mouth of the Cornucopia."

"They aren't anymore," Rue says, "I was spying on them before I met Madge, the Careers have all the supplies stacked into some kind of pyramid."

"Do they still have the land mines activated?"

She shakes her head, "I don't know, but why would they go through the trouble of fixing the land mines if they aren't going to use them?"

"So if we could trigger the land mines, we might be able to blow up the supplies in the process." Gale grins, his grey eyes turning dark.

"Hold on though, if the only way to trigger the mines is to step on it, won't that mean that we're blown sky high too?" I ask biting my lip.

"We'll think of something." He says, his brow burrowed.

"We would need the Careers to leave the area first," Rue says, her voice thoughtful yet excited about the idea of blowing up the supplies.

"We'll think of something," Gale repeats, smirking again.

Rue and Thresh start chatting about something as they both finish their breakfast and Gale scoots closer to me. "So what were you and Thresh talking about earlier?"

I shrug "Mockingjays."

"That so," he says, sounding unconvinced.

"Why?" I say teasingly, "Jealous that Thresh is nicer than you."'

"No," he says a little too quickly. I giggle and he catches my hand, lacing his fingers in mine. "And he is not nicer than me."

I pretend to consider, tapping my chin with my forefinger, "Hmm, I don't know. He does scowl far less often than you." This makes him scowl even more and another giggle escapes my body. Before I can stop myself I ask the question I've been dying to ask ever since we formed this alliance, "Were you really looking for me?"

Gale smiles, nodding his head once, "Like crazy."

"Why?"

He looks down at me, his eyes dark with an emotion I can't place. "You know why," he says simply. I open my mouth to reply but my response dies in the back of my throat. His hand gently pushes a stray strand of hair behind my ear and I forget how to breathe.

"Ahem! Should we give you two some privacy?" my head jolts up to meet Thresh and Rue's amused gazes. I can feel my cheeks turning crimson and I move a few inches away from Gale.

I glance hesitantly at Maysilee, still sitting in the far corner of the cave. Her eyes are tragic and she gives me a small smile.

I bit my lip, wondering what's wrong when I catch Gale gazing at me from the corner of my eye, smiling again. I've never seen him smile so much. I turn towards him, smiling shyly. I feel him gentle squeeze my hand and I remember all the times back on the Capitol how that reassuring squeeze would always make me feel better. And even here, where the lush beauty of the Capitol feels like hundreds of miles away, Gale's hand squeezing mine still makes me feel safe. I squeeze his hand back and allow myself to relax slightly. As long as we're together, nothing bad is going to happen. Of course who knows how long that's going to last.

While I would be content to stare at Gale Hawthorne for hours, Rue and Thresh have other ideas. The tributes from District Eleven are beginning to become cramped in the limited space of the cave and Gale isn't far behind them, complaining about gathering extra food in case we can't hunt for a long period of time.

We head back into the forest, Rue and Thresh gathering plants as Gale and I look for meat. A few rabbits cross our paths, Gale shoots two and I get one right in the eye with my knife.

"Your aims getting better," Mays tells me, smirking at me.

Gale whistles low as we pick up our kills. "I never, in a million years would have thought that you would have an aim like that. Must have gotten handy with that knife all the hours you spent wood carving, sitting on your back porch dreaming of me."

He bumps me with his hip playful, his voice teasing yet again. I push him, sticking my tongue out like a child as I try to stop my blush. He laughs, grasping my wrist before I can push him again.

The laughter goes out of his eyes as he looks at me open hand, inspecting the scraps and the still healing burns. He drops his kills on the floor, still holding onto my wrist. He runs a finger over the skin of my hand, making a shiver run up my spine. "Is this from me?" he asks, looking over at the scraps of my once delicate hand.

I shake my head, "No, those are all me." He looks at me, still unconvinced, and I give him a small smile, reassuring him that the cuts on my hand were from the woods not broken pottery.

He lets go of my hand, "I really am sorry about what happened that night."

"It's fine Gale." He nods, running a hand through his hair. I gasp as I see the long angry red streak on his arm, blistering and oozing. "What happened?" I ask incredulously.

Gale blinks, confused until he notices that I'm staring at his arm. "Oh, it just got burned in the fire."

"Why didn't you tell me? I have medicine for that!"

"You do?" he asks, clearly surprised.

I nod, grabbing his hand and pulling him back to the cave.

"Hey what's the rush?" Thresh asks as I hurry past him, dragging Gale along.

"Gale has an awful burn on his arm that he apparently forgot to mention last night." I tell him, irritation in my voice.

He laughs, following us back to the cave and gesturing for Rue to come along. I grumble as I dig through my pack for the ointment, Gale watching me with amusement in his eyes. "Really Undersee I'm fine."

I scoff, "Just sit down Hawthorne."

He mutters something unintelligible as I force him to sit, standing above him with the ointment. The amusement in his eyes is replaced with something looking like worry and Thresh chuckles at his expression. "Looks like somebody's a little scared about Miss Twelve playing doctor on them." Rue giggles and I resist the urge to stick my tongue out at him.

As gently as possible I smear the white paste onto Gale's burnt arm, cringing as I see him wince at my touch. "Sorry," I mutter, trying to be even more gentle. His skin is rough and hard by years of hard labor but it feels warm beneath my fingers and when a tremor passes over his body I bite my lip to hold back a shiver of my own. He relaxes slightly as I rub more ointment on him, letting out a sigh. I smirk at him, "See, it's not so bad."

"Thanks," he says, giving me the smile I've seen him give countless other girls but never dreamed of him giving me.

"Alright," Thresh says, poking Rue's arm, "Why don't we go pick some more berries while the love birds ogle at each other." I feel my cheeks redden as Rue giggles, nodding her consent.

Thresh winks at us as they leave and I try to scowl at him through my blush, "We'll meet you out there once I finish treating Gale's burns." I call out after them, but their only response is their laughter.

I sneak a glance at Gale to find him already looking at me, "Do you have any other burns?" I ask him, doing my best to cover up my blush as I finish up with his arm.

"Nope, just the one."

"Okay," I say, I withdraw my hands, screwing back on the lid and putting the jar back in my backpack. "We better go help them then."

Gale grabs my hand as I zip the bag up, and I turn to see his face inches away from mine. "Or we could stay here for awhile." His breath is hot on my face and I feel heat rise to my face.

"We can't," I say weakly, my head spinning at his closeness.

He smiles at me, wrapping his good arm around my waist as I try to take a step back from him. "Why not?"

"Because it wouldn't be fair to Thresh and Rue."

He scowls at me and I find myself liking his playful smirk far more than his usual scowl. "Ah yes, Thresh, seems like you like him allot huh? You're already wearing his clothes."

Confused I follow his gaze to the oversized jacket that I'm still wearing from last night. I look back up at Gale, a smirk on my face. "Is Gale Hawthorne jealous?"

My response must have not been what he expected because his scowl falters and he blinks at me before laughing. "Well, that's the first time I've gotten that reply to that particular move."

I grin at him, "Well, next time don't use a move on me that you've used on other girls down at the slagheap."

When gives me a genuine smile, tucking another flyaway strand of hair behind my ear, "Don't believe every rumor you hear about me and the slagheap. Besides you're better than all those girls combined."

I bite my lip, shaking my head, "I thought I told you no more lines."

"It's not a line if it's true." My breathe catches as he moves closer to me, leaning down. I close my eyes gently, my heart pounding in my chest as I feel his lips hovering over mine.

The sound of something slamming against the ground breaks our trance, Gale grabbing his bow with the arrow already strung, me freeing the knife from my belt as we swirl around to face the mouth of the cave.

There, sitting neatly on the ground is a small brown woven basket with the silver parachute still attached to it. Gale hoots as we go to retrieve the basket and I grin as I look at the goodies inside. Two full loaves of bread and four oranges. A mediocre meal back home but here it's a feast.

I look up at Gale to find him wearing an odd expression on his face. My grin fades as I watch him gazing at the food, my eyes going over to Maysilee, sitting cross-legged on my sleeping bag. Her eyes are on Gale, her face closed off and unreadable but when she finds me looking at her she offers me a small smile.

Gale grabs my hand, squeezing it once and I suddenly realize the reason for his distress. We almost kissed on national television. Our families and friends are watching us right now! And even worse, we almost kissed with my aunt sitting not ten feet away!

I squeeze his hand back, silently thanking Haymitch for sending the food before it was too late and swearing to myself that I will not let that happen again.

_REVIEWS! PLEASE! Kisses for everyone! _


	13. Triumphs and Tragedies

_Im so sorry guys, I can't believe it took me a month to get this chapter up, but I promise that the next chapter will be up by next Saturday! Thank you for all the amazing reviews, ahhh I can't believe I have more than a 100 :D! Love you all, and enjoy :D_

_**DISCLAIMER: I OWN ZIP**_

_Chapter 13_

Gale brings the basket completely inside the cave as I go to retrieve Thresh and Rue. I find them not twenty yards away, Thresh hoisting Rue up by her waist so that she can reach fruit dangling from the high branches of a tree. I stare at them, Rue's face light up with her innocent smile, Thresh grinning as always. They look so alike they could be brother and sister, gathering fruit with little Rue in her big brother's arms. I smile at them, and Rue waves when she sees me, holding a piece of fruit up triumphantly. I gesture for them to follow me, leading the way back to the cave. Rue's eyes widen as she looks at the basket and Thresh grins, "What's all this?"

I shrug, "I guess Haymitch decided to be nice for a change." My eyes wander over to Gale, whose looking at me with curious eyes.

If the tributes from District Eleven noticed our odd behavior, neither of them acknowledges it, both too happy about the aspect of food we didn't have to hunt ourselves. We spend most of the rest of the day in the cave, carefully distributing the bread so that it will last as long as possible. Gale shoots a goosling that wonders by our camp and we roost it for dinner.

As the anthem begins I sneak a glance at Gale, wondering what he thinks about our almost kiss. Is he happy that Haymitch sent us the basket when he did? There are no pictures in the sky tonight and we all worry about how long the Gamemakers will leave us in peace before the audience begins to get bored.

"Tomorrow," I say, looking up at the sky, "If nothing happens by tomorrow they'll do something to spice these games up." Rue cuddles closer to me and I put my arm protectively around her, trying to offer whatever form of comfort I can to the young girl.

Gale takes the first shift of keeping watch and I climb into my sleeping bag with Rue still attached to my hip, worry in her eyes. "I'm scared Madge."

"Don't be, nothing's going to happen to you." She says nothing, not believing my lie as she dozes off. Maysilee sits next to me, looking into space again. I close my eyes, hoping to get just a few hours of peace that sleep will bring.

* * *

I wake up to the sound of talking. Hush, fast paced talking that can only be the sound of plotting. I yawn loudly, my back cracking as I get to my feet. "What's going on?" I ask as I see Gale and Thresh both sitting at the mouth of the cave.

Thresh grins in response and Gale smirks, "We know how to even the playing field."

We wait for Rue to wake up before they explain the plan to the both of us. It's a dangerous plan, it's a dumb plan but it might just work. "You get it?"Gale asks after he and Thresh explain their idea.

Rue nods and I bite my lip as I repeat the plan back to them, "You two are going to go to the Cornucopia and me and Rue are going to set up fires to make the Careers leave. Once they're gone you'll find a way to destroy the supplies and we'll all meet back at the cave."

"Right." Thresh says, still grinning.

"And you think that it'll work?" I ask, still unsure.

Gale nods once and I sigh, "Alright then, I'm in."

Rue practically bounces up and down, excited about the idea of an adventure, "I'm in too."

Thresh laughs, poking her in the stomach to make her giggle. We decide to go hunting before we set out.

Thresh plays with Rue again, making her giggle by telling jokes that remind me erringly of the jokes Darius used to tell me. I wonder how my old friend is doing, I know that he was friendly with Gale, how is he holding up with both of us in the Games? He's different from the other Peacekeepers and I know without a doubt he's worried about us. Peeta must be worried sick too, but I know he must be proud that I've made it this far. I wonder how he reacted when I used his idea of creating a scandal about me and Gale during the interview, he probably threw back his head laughing like he used to when we were kids. Of course that would have made Katniss angry, she has such a short fuse sometimes, so maybe it would be better if he didn't react that way. How is she dealing with all of this? I've always been so jealous of her and Gale's close friendship, and I've noticed on numerous occasions the way Gale's eyes follow her every move, the same way her eyes follow him. Is she angry at me? Does she regret asking Gale not to hurt me? And what did she think of our almost kiss?

"Tell me something about you?"

"What?" I ask, coming out of my daze to find Gale walking close to me, looking down at me with a smirk.

"Tell me something that I don't know about you already."

I bite my lip, thinking for a moment. Why would he care to get to know me now? I shake my head, looking at my feet, "There's not much to tell, I'm not very exciting."

He rolls his eyes in response and I feel heat rise to my cheeks, "It doesn't have to be exciting, just something I don't know. What's your middle name?"

I tense at the seemingly innocent question, trying not to show my distress. Mays rubs my arm gently next to me and I look up to meet Gale questioning eyes, "Maysillee," I say, my voice wavering.

His eyebrows furrow, "Maysille? Isn't that…" he trails off looking at me with sad grey orbs. I nod my head once and he expression turns remorseful, "I'm sorry, if had know I wouldn't have asked."

"It's alright," I tell him, smiling slightly, "She's a part of me."

He frowns at me, "You're stronger than her Madge."

I laugh, shaking my head, "Anyone that knew her would tell you otherwise." Including myself. May snorts besides me, and Gale smirks at me, intertwining his fingers with mine once more.

We finish the hunt with a grand total of five squirrels, a goosling, half a dozen fish and a good amount of edible greens and berries. Once back in the cave we separate the food into moderately equal piles, just in case we can't reach one another and need to survive on our own for awhile. Rue and I will both be setting fires at already designated areas then we'll each head back to the cave where we'll meet back up with Thresh and Gale. I bite lip nervously as I watch everyone get ready to leave. This will be the first time since the very first day of the Games that I won't have an ally near me at all times. I look at little Rue, packing her bag quietly besides me and pat her arm to try to ease her worry.

"Don't worry little bird, it'll be okay." She smiles as if she believes me and I ruffle her wild hair playfully. I take the rolled up sleeping bag out of my pack, handing it to her. She shakes her head, refusing to take it. "Just in case," I tell her, putting the bag inside her pack before she can say no again. She stares at me for a moment, her wide brown eyes searching mine before she launches herself in my arms. I hold onto the little girl with all the strength I have, clutching her to my chest as I tell myself over and over again that it will be fine.

When Rue releases me, she goes straight to Thresh, who pulls her off the ground into what must be a bone crushing bear hug. Once again I'm struck by how much they look like brother and sister. My thoughts are interrupted as I feel strong arms wrap around my waist pulling me backwards. I turn to face him as Gale tightens his grip in me, crushing me to his warm chest, my heart beating loud in my ears. For a second I forget about the cameras and I bury my head in the sanctuary of Gale's chest, feeling him rest his cheek against my hair. "Be safe," I tell him, my voice cracking at the end.

He pulls back to look at my flushed face and he nods once. "You too," he says crushing me to him again before pressing his lips against my cheek. I freeze at the contact, his warm lips against my flushed skin and before I can even begin to process it his lips are gone, and he's pulling away completely, swinging the bow and sheath of arrows onto his back.

Thresh smirks at me, throwing his arm around my shoulder, "Don't do anything terribly stupid while we're gone."

I roll my eyes at him, "Same goes for you." He chuckles, squeezing me once before following Gale out of the cave.

I watch with Rue as they walk out of sight, feeling a sense of dread pass through my body. "They'll be okay Madge," Rue tells me with an innocent smile.

I nod for her benefit, "Of course they will be. Come on, we better get going." We walk together for about a mile before we have to split up. Each of us is going to light two fires for the Careers to see before we go back to the cave. I hug again, wrapping my arms around her small frame. "Be careful little bird."

"See you soon, " she says, turning her back to walk away.

"Wait," I call out, an idea forming. I remove the gold pin from my jacket, the first time I've taken it off since the Reaping, and hold it out to her.

She smiles but shakes her head no, closing my fingers back around it. "You have your good luck charm and I have mine," she tells me, showing me her woven necklace with three stars again.

I smile back, "Truth, spirit and hope right?"

"Yup, this'll protect me," she says, tucking her necklace back into her shirt. She embraces me once more before climbing to the top of the nearest tree, swinging through the forest practically unseen.

I smile as I make my way through the forest to the pond were I first found Rue, or more accurately were she first found me. That is where I'm supposed to set up the first fire, the second fire will be set a few more miles beyond that. It's not a very far walk and I jog most of the way. Maysilee hums as she leads the way, her expression unreadable.

Once we reach the pond I set about colleting all the dry grass and dead branches I need in order to make a great deal of smoke. Once the pie is high enough I light a single match, flinging it onto the pile, the dry foliage instantly catching the flame. I grin as the fire begins to rage, scurrying to the location of the next fire.

It takes even less time to start this one, dead branches and leaves scattering the forest floor. Once the fire begins to burn I tug lightly on my ear, watching Maysilee out of the corner of my eye. "The Careers haven't noticed your fires yet, but they will very soon. You should leave now." I give her a barely noticeable nod, picking up my backpack and heading back the way I came.

A mockingjay rests one a low branch as I walk by and I'm instantly reminded of Gale. I scratch my arm and May sighs, "Really Madge, you have to stop worrying so much about him, he and Thresh are big boys, they can handle themselves. They are more than half way to the Cornucopia, perfectly safe." I chew on the inside of the cheek as I think about Gale and Thresh, so close to bloodthirsty Careers. Halfway. I could easily catch up to them in less than half an hour. Would they be angry? Thresh wouldn't be, it seems that nothing can stop his insane grinning, but Gale is another story. May looks down at me, her eyebrows knit together and her voice stern, "Stick to the plan Madge."

_Right, of course just stick to the plan_, I tell myself. I walk for another twenty seconds before I go dashing through the woods, sprinting in a completely different direction than I'm supposed to be going in, dashing to the cornucopia. _To hell with the plan._

Maysilee groans next to, muttering unintelligibly as she goes in front of me to lead me through the underbrush. "You can never follow the plan can you?"

I smirk in spite of myself, "I never was very good with following plans." I can practically hear the commenters laughing at my joke and May scoffs at me, saying something about being too much like my mother.

I quickly begin to recognize my surroundings, it's the path that I took when I escaped from the Cornucopia with Ronan. The mere thought of the young boy brings tears to eyes and I shake my head, pushing the tears away. Now is not the time for tears. But thinking about him makes me think about my other young ally. Little Rue. Is she okay? We were supposed to meet back at the cave, will she worry when she finds I'm not there? Surely she won't go out and try look for me, she's far too smart for that. But still fear and guilt wash over me and I tug on my ear once more, hoping that May will understand my want to know where Rue is."

"The Careers are just about to leave camp, Thresh and Gale are almost to the Cornucopia and Rue has just finished setting the last fire, she had some trouble lighting it but now she should be heading back." I allow myself to relax at her words, everyone's alright for now.

My body tenses as the thick layer of trees begin to thin, the Cornucopia almost visible. I slow down to almost a crawl as I look around the forest. Where are they? I bite my lip, beginning to scratch my arm to ask May for help when a large hand roughly covers my mouth. My body freezes in terror and I scream , the hand muffling the sound too much for it to be heard by anyone. I look blindly around for Maysilee but I can't find her as I feel the hand puling me backwards. I pull on his arm with both of my hands but the figure quickly pins my arms behind my back with his other hand, dragging me backwards. Images of Marina's slit throat dance before me and I kick my legs wildly, biting the hand that holds my mouth. The figure cries out, his grip slacking for just enough time for me to throw myself out of his grasp, landing face first on the floor. I grab the dagger on my belt, reeling around to face my attacker. Brown eyes and a wide grin greet me and I blink rapidly as Thresh doubles over in laughter. "Damn Twelve, I didn't mean to scare you that bad."

I scowl at my ally, throwing the dagger on the ground, "What the hell were you doing! I could have killed you!"

"Not likely," he says with a wink, "And that's what you get for not following the ingenious plan of mine."

"I think you mean ours." I spin around to see Gale appear from behind a tree, smirking at me.

My face burns under his gaze but I manage to hold my ground, "So you decided to scare me to death?"

Thresh open his mouth to say something but a flicker of movement from the Cornucopia catches our eyes and we all fall silent, stooping down to the ground. A red head girl from District Five appears out the forest, slinking over the unguarded supplies. I squint my eyes at her figure, watching as she does a couple odd maneuver and carefully placed steps before she reaches the mountain of supplies, taking a few food items that won't be noticed and doing her peculiar dance once more before disappearing into the trees.

"She figured it out," I say, grinning at the idea that such a outwardly harmless girl cracked the Careers code. Gale nods in agreement, his expression stony as he examines the supplies.

"So what now?" I ask, looking at the two boys. Neither of them respond and looking back at the supplies I realize they're just as clueless on how to destroy the supplies as I am. I bite my lip as I watch Gale scowl at the goods, wishing they could disappear on their own.

"Apples." I glance at Mays, sitting cross legged next to me, her head titled to the side.

I raise an eyebrow at her in question and she rises to her feet, pointing at the very top of the supplies. "Apples," she repeats.

_Apples? What is that supposed to mean?_ I go back to staring at the supplies, my eyes inspecting it from top to bottom. And there, suspended from a rope off the side of a bin is a burlap sack full of apples. I glance back at May but she offers no more words of advice. I must figure out the rest on my own. I chew on my cheek as I think, feeling the soft inside of my cheek turn bloody in now time, the coppery taste of it lingering in my mouth. If the little dance that the girl from Five did proved anything it's that the Careers still have the supplies booby-trapped with the mines. If we could somehow activate them then it would blow up all the supplies, leaving the Careers with practically nothing. But to do that we would need for them to all set off at the same time, a chain reaction that would blow up the whole lot. I look back at the apple bag again, it must contain at least two dozen of them.

My eyes widen and I bite my tongue to hold in a laugh. Gale's head snaps up, and I grin at him, "I know what to do."

Thresh grins back at me but Gale eyes me warily, "What is it."

"The apple bag," I say pointing to it, "if we could free all the apples from the bag, they would hit the ground and cause a chain reaction that will blow up the whole pyramid."

"But how do we get the apples out of the bag?" In response, I hold up an arrow from Gale's quiver.

Gale looks at me, still unsure but nods once, standing up and moving into range. Thresh and I follow him into the clearing, on the lookout for any dangers. Gale strings the first arrow onto place, relaxing his shoulders and releasing it into the side of the bag. It misses by a few inches, barely grazing it. His eyebrows knit in frustration but he breaths in a deep breath, releasing another arrow. It hits the top of the bag, creating a small hole. The third arrow opens it even wider. The fourth arrow creates a gaping hole. He strings another arrow into place, and Maysilee yells for me to run a moment before the arrow catches the flap of the ripped sack, tearing the bag in two. My eyes widen as I see the first apple tumble out of the bag and Thresh throws himself on the ground, grabbing my arm and dragging me down with him. I grab Gale's leg on the way down, making him fall flat on his back as the first apple hits the ground. I fill the earth shake as I cover my head with hands, the explosion ringing in my ear. I see Maysilee's face in front of me and I shut my eyes tight.

Eventually the floor settles and I raise my head to see both my allies, laying next to me, both perfectly fine. Gale tries in vain to stand up and I cough loudly as the acid from the smoke burns my throat. Thresh is the only one that seems to know what to do, making his way back to the safety of the trees by crawling on the floor. Gale and I follow suit and we make it back to the bush we were hiding under before. "You have o get up, you have to get out of here," Mays says, looking frantically behind her. I rest my head on the soft grass of the forest floor before I slowly haul myself up, using a tree to help me balance. Thresh helps Gale to his feet and we retreat wordlessly away from the Cornucopia as swiftly as we can. We don't talk as we run, or at least try to run, me leading the way while May tells me which is the safest path. It' not till we're almost to the cave we stop to take a drink of water. I lean against a tree, letting the water wash down the taste of ash. Thresh is leaning against a tree when it happens. He looks up at the sky, and laughs. His laugh echoes through the trees, breaking the silence, as he throws his head back and laughs. I stare at him for a moment before a laugh breaks out of my mouth and I crash into him, doubling over as the giggles relentlessly rack through my body. Soon I hear Gale join us, his laughter mixing in with ours until I can't distinguish whose laugh is whose.

"We did it." I say, when I can breathe.

"_You_ did it! If you hadn't pointed out the apples me and Gale would still be there looking like the fools we are!"

"I would have come up with something," Gale says in defense.

Thresh rolls his eyes and I giggle at him, linking my arm through his. "Come on." We joke the rest of the way back to the cave, doing impersonations of each Career's face when they see the destroyed supplies. Thresh is in the middle of a joke about the girl from District One when we reach the cave. His voice trails off at the absence of a little brown-eyed girl. The silence is even worse than before as Thresh eyes dart around the cave, Gale coming up behind him to pat his back reassuringly, "I'm sure she's just running a little late, she probably stopped to get some more plants for-"

The scream that erupts through the trees freezes everyone in place. It's a scream of a child, a terrified young girl's scream and before I can think, before anyone can react I'm running. I'm running past the stream and the trees and the mockingjays who torment me with Rue's tune of safety. Maysilee does not beg me to stop like she did with Ronan, or maybe she is but I can not hear her. All I hear is her screams. This time it's my name, my name wailed at the top of a twelve year old's lungs, "Madge! Madge!" Tears rush down my face as I run, unable to call out to her, unable to tell her I'm coming. She cries out for Thresh next, then Gale, then me once more.

"Rue!" I cry out, "Rue! I'm coming! Rue!"

I break into the clearing to find her entangled in a net, her hands clutching the tiny knife I gave her, furiously trying to cut herself free. "Rue!" I cry out, rushing for her. She looks up me, hope filling her tear streaked face. I free my knife from my belt, Rue reaching her hand out to me through the mesh calling my name once more with a smile on her face as the spear lodges itself in her stomach.

_*Hides under table as angry readers throw blunt objects*_

_I'm sorry! I didn't want Rue to die but it is inevitable :( she will be missed. I know that I stuck allot to the book this chapter but next chapter will be very different I swear. Please review! Even if to just say how much you hate me for Rue dying (again sorry!), thanks for reading! Kisses to all from Gale/Thresh/ Rue :( _


	14. Opportunities and Possibilities

**Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter as promised :) Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DONT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES NOR DO I OWN THE SONG IN THIS CHAPTER**

_**Chapter 14**_

My knife lodges itself into the boy's torso before he can reach to pull his spear out. An animalistic sound comes out of the boy's mouth as he falls to the ground, pulling my knife out of his body and making his death quicker, a moment later the sound of a canon echoing across the forest.

I fall to my knees, crawling the rest of the way to Rue. She's curled up in a ball, trembling with tears in her eyes. I take out another knife from my pack and cut her free of the net, convincing myself that I can fix this, that it will be okay. One look at her wound tells me otherwise, and I feel bile rise up in my throat. She whimpers and I look down to meet her deep brown eyes, filled with fear and pain. I can't summon any words of comfort, but it wouldn't make a difference if I could, she knows what's going to happen next.

I move her hair off her face and she grasps my hand, "Did they blow up the food?" she asks, her voice too small and too weak.

I nod, fighting the tears that form in my eyes, "Yes, every last bit. I-I was there, I went after them once I lighted the fires. I'm so sorry Rue," I gasp, feeling remorse and shame rush over me, "If I was here, if I had followed the plan-"

"It wouldn't have made any difference," she tells me, gripping my hand tighter, "this is what is supposed to happen." The hand not holding mine pulls the woven necklace out of her shirt, shakingly breaking off two of the three stars. "Give one to Thresh, a-and one for you." She holds the two wooden stars out to me and take them in my hand, nodding again. "Don't go."

"I'm not going anywhere," I tell her, pulling her closer so that her head rests in my lap.

Her body relaxes against me and I can almost imagine that we're back in the cave and that she's gone to sleep in my lap. "Sing," she says, so low I can barely hear her.

A tear leaks from eye as I brush her wild hair behind her ear. I look down at her small body and I begin:

_There is a castle on a cloud,  
I like to go there in my sleep,  
There where no one every weeps,  
Not in my castle on a cloud._

There is a room that's full of toys,  
There are a hundred boys and girls,  
Nobody shouts or talks too loud,  
Not in my castle on a cloud.

Rue's eyes close gently, her breathing becoming even but shallow. I can hear shouting and footsteps but I don't dare move. Someone enters the clearing and the tears flow freely down my cheeks now as I continue to hold Rue, my voice wavering as I sing.

_There is a lady all in white,  
Holds you and sings a lullaby,  
She's nice to see and she's soft to touch,  
She says "Rue, I love you very much."_

My body shakes as I try to contain the sobs, Rue laying so very still. I hear another person enter the clearing but I don't bother looking up, instead I memorize the way Rue's ringlets fall across her face. I stroke her hair as I sing.

_I know a place where no one's lost,  
I know a place where no one cries,  
Crying at all is not allowed,  
Not in my castle on a cloud._

Someone falls to their knees next to me but still I watch the little girl in my arms. A large tan hand strokes her arm as I press my lips to her forehead and the canon fires. A cry escapes my lips and all the sobs I've hold back come tumbling forward. I clench Rue to my chest, rocking back and forth as if to put her to sleep. Warm arms enfold around both of us and I fell someone's tears hit my hair.

We sit there for a while, two of us holding the innocent little girl that did not have to die. I look up to see Thresh staring down at both of us in his arms, the tears rolling of his face and onto mine. He releases me from his embrace and I get up slowly as if not to disturb her. I lay her back down on the forest floor, tucking a fly away piece of hair behind her ear one last time.

Thresh still kneels besides her, staring at her as if he can will her back to life. Maysilee stands opposite of him, stroking Rue's cheek once. She meets my gaze, no bothering to give me her usual reassuring smile.

A flash of black flutters by, a mockingjay, landing on a tree branch. Underneath it lays a group of wildflowers, most likely weeds but blossoming in beautiful hues of violet, pink, yellow and white. I crouch besides the flowers, picking an armful of the most beautiful ones. I go back to Rue, Thresh still there besides her and begin to weave flowers into her hair. Thresh takes a single yellow flower and places it delicately behind her ear. One stem at a time we braid them into her hair, covering her wound with them, wreathing her face in a crown of white flowers. I don't know why I do it, but I simply can't walk away from her looking like she did, curled up in a ball with blood on her jacket. No, she deserves to look like what I know she truly is. An innocent, beautiful, angel of a girl. I place the last flower on her head, placing a kiss on her cheek.

I look up to see Thresh looking down at her, his face full of grief. Someone clears their throat and I turn to see Gale standing at the edge of the clearing, staring at us, his cheeks wet. His gaze leaves mine , traveling down to my left where the dead boy lays. I follow his gaze and I feel my breath hitch. There's so much blood, far more than Rue's wound had. I feel bile rise up in the throat again, my eyes switching frantically from Rue to the boy. I killed someone. I killed the boy that killed Rue.

"Madge," Gale says, reaching out to me. I shake my head, staring down at Rue laying her sheet of flowers, Thresh still holding her hand with fresh tears on his face. The body of the boy lying with his eyes open, looking so innocent in death. And suddenly I'm running. I hear Gale call my name but I don't stop, I sprint through the trees with no other direction in mind other than away from here.

It reminds me so much of when I ran away from Ronan and Marina's lifeless bodies, tears falling down cheeks, tripping over rocks and fallen branches as I try to escape the images of blood and dead children. Because that is what they were, children. Even the boy that ended Rue's life, he was just a child, a scared child that would do the unthinkable to get home.

I'm unsure if I stopped running or tripped, but somehow I end up in fetal position on the forest floor, hunched behind a boulder. Silent sobs rack over me and I wrap my arms around myself to try to escape the pain. Maysilee strokes my hair, murmuring useless words that do not comfort me, but still I glad she's here. I want to curl up in her arms like I would if I was at home, to close my eyes as she soothes me with her tingly embrace and peppermint scent. But I can't do that here. I can't do anything here. Except kill. And die. Like the boy that killed Rue and I killed the boy and Marina died and Ronan died and Rue died and everyone is dead. _Dead dead dead dead dead dead dead. _

I can faintly hear someone calling my name but I don't answer, curling up tighter in a ball. A canon booms but I hardly acknowledge it. The sky soon turns dark, no stars shining in the black curtain of the night. The anthem sounds and I can't help but look up. The boy comes up first, he was from District One. _Marvel,_ I think that was his name. To my surprise the girl tribute from his district appears after him. She must have been the canon. But then the boy from District Three's picture appears and I furrow my brow in confusion. But there's no time to puzzle over it because then there's Rue, her small face illuminating the heavens. I feel tears prick at my eyes again as I touch my three middle fingers to my lips before saluting her image in the sky. "Good bye Little Bird," I whisper to her picture, the image blurring before it disappears completely. She's gone.

I'm about to lay back down on my bed of dirt and dry grass when something pricks my hand. I look down to see the two wooden stars, still clutched in my fist. I trace one of them with my finger. "_Give one to Thresh, a-and one for you"_. I pick a few handfuls of dry grass from beneath me, weaving them together like I did in the Training Center. I sting one of the stars onto the string and tie it loosely around my neck. It's long, almost as long as Rue's necklace was, and the grass tickles my skin but it gives me a sense of closure, a reassurance. She's okay now, no more pain, no more hurting. She's safe.

A sliver parachute floats down in front of me and I catch it before it hits the ground. I tear the parachute of it, revealing a loaf of warm brown bread shaped in a crescent with seeds spread over the top. Years visiting the Mellark bakery and spending dozens of afternoons listening to Peeta lecture me about bread makes me certain where this bread is from. District Eleven. Surely it must be a mistake, it was no doubt meant for Rue or Thresh. But there are never mistakes in the Games and I smile slightly at what it means. They must have requested Haymitch sent it to me, their own personal thank you. I don't need, nor do I deserve gratitude however it is nice to know that they do not hold any blame against me, even if I do.

I look up into the sky, tears still fresh in my eyes, a tiny smile on my face. "I offer my greatest thanks to District Eleven." I tear a piece of the still warm bread off, popping it into my mouth. It's sweet and fresh and it feels me inside with warmth. I climb to the top of the nearest tree, buckling myself in. I have my pack still on me but my sleeping bag was with Rue and my blanket was with Gale so I have to tough it out for now. I shiver, pulling the large black jacket tighter around me. Thresh's jacket, I guess I never gave it back to him. My eyes drift close and sleep overcomes me.

* * *

_I'm in the square of District Twelve. Katniss gives me a rare smile as she waves hello, Darius ruffles my hair and Peeta hands me a cupcake, a strawberry one with white frosting. I'm on the interview stage at the Capitol, Ronan shows me the proper way to cast a net and laughingly tells me not to call him Mr. Mermaid anymore before it catches on. Rue dances around in her interview dress, her gossamer wings fluttering as she twirls before they turn into real angels wings that take her higher and higher till she's barely insight. She blows me a kiss as a mockingjay lands on her shoulder._

* * *

I startle awake, my eyes flashing open to the see the sun has not yet risen. I yawn, stretching my back until it cracks. I unbuckle myself from the tree, eating more of the bread as I try to think of a plan. I take the wooden star out of my pocket, the one meant for Thresh. I know I have to give it to him, I promised her I would. And then I have to break the alliance. I'm tired of seeing my allies, my friends, die in front of my eyes, and it will only get worse, until we turn on each other. I won't let it get to that point. My chest aches as I think about leaving Gale but I know it's what I have to do. I'll leave them both then do my best to stay hidden for the rest of the Games, evading the remaining Careers. It's not the best strategy and if I'm honest with myself I know it will never work. I may stay hidden for awhile but someone will find me, and then I'll die. But perhaps that's always been my plan, to die. Because the alternative is hardly bearable to think about. Me going back home, while twenty three others rot in boxes underground. And if I'm being really honest, I could live with that, if it weren't for the fact that one of those rotting corpses would be Gale. No, it's never been my plan to go home, I'll die in this arena, just like hundreds have died before me. Just like my aunt.

I pick myself off the floor, wiping my face and climbing down from my perch. Maysilee gives me no direction to go in, wanting me to go wandering around for awhile, so I will start by looking for the boys back at the cave. Even without Mays help I have a good enough sense of direction and soon recognize where I am, just about two miles away from our camp.

My stomach growls and I stop to rest under a tree. I take a gulp of water and a few more bites of bread. The last time I ate was breakfast last night and I realize that I'm starved. I eat a portion of the plants that Rue and Thresh picked. It's be foolish to light a fire right now to cook the meat, and I can't yet bring myself to eat it raw so I pick at the food that I got from the Cornucopia, my last three crackers, a few strips of the dried beef and one of the cans of peaches. As I'm finishing off the peaches I hear trumpets blare, Claudius Templesmith voicing booming over the speakers. I quickly return my attention to my peaches, ignoring the booming voice. He's just going to announce the feast, which I have no plan on attending. "Attention tributes attention the regulations requiring a single victor have been suspended, from now on two victors may be crowned if both originate from the same district. That is all may the odds be ever in your favor!" There is a small burst of static then complete silence. _Two victors, two victors, two victor, two vic-_

I spring to my feet, the can of peaches forgotten as I grin up at the sky. I can barely understand it, there has never been a rule change, there have never been any rules at all in the Hunger Games but all I can think about is home. Going home _with _Gale. I'm running again, but this time a reckless grin is on my face and I'm running so fast the forest is practically a blur.

"Madge! You need to go slower! Madge, stop!" Maysilee shouts at me but I ignore her, imagining the celebration that must be going on back home. My father would be smiling proudly as he watches me on the screen, my mother would be hugging anyone is reach. Nora would be weeping tears of joy and relief, Peeta would be laughing causing the dimples in his cheeks to visible, Katniss would be standing there, quietly happy in her own way, Darius would be whooping and making any other annoying sound with a grin on his face.

I take a sharp right through a thick nest of tall bushes and run into something hard, and warm. I almost fall back at the collision but a strong arm reaches out reflexively, grasping me before I can fall. I look up, startled to see Thresh staring down at me.

It may be from the lack of food or my confusion at the rule change or pure exhaustion but for some reason when he helps me to my feet I throw myself in his arms without thinking. I feel him tense before relaxing against me, hugging me back softly.

"Where _were_ you?" he asks, his voice muffled by my hair.

I shake my head, tightening my grip on him, "I-I couldn't- I just had to…" my voice falters but I know he'll understand. He pulls away before I do and I look up at him, my ridiculous grin still plastered on my face. But he's trademarked smile is gone from his face, a mask of indifference taking its place. A mask I haven't seen since the interviews in the Capitol. My smile falters at his expression and in a moment I realize why. Rue. My cheeks burn at my idiocy, of course he wouldn't be happy at the rule change, just a day after his district partner's death.

He takes a step away from me, tugging on the string of his backpack to resettle it. "Guess I'll be on my way then."

My eyes widen as I see the bulging pack and the spear in his hand. "You don't have to," I say before I can stop myself, "this rule change, it doesn't have to change anything, not yet."

He shakes his head at me, "I left at sunrise, before the rue change. But congratulations, I'm sure you must be very excited." I flinch at his words, his voice cold and uncaring, something I've never heard from him.

He turns away from me and I blurt out, "Your district sent me bread."

Thresh turns around slowly and I bite my lip, unzipping my bag to show him the half a loaf of bread. He looks at me, a million emotions displayed on his face that I can't read. "Here," I say, holding it out to him. "Take it."

He looks like he might refuse, backing away again, but I can't let him leave, not yet. "I killed him."

His eyebrows shoot up in confusion before he settles back into his uncaring expression as I look down at my shoes. "The boy from District One, I did it. I killed him, I know you probably already knew but I had to tell someone." His cold mask wavers and I can almost see the boy that used to be my friend.

"Madge," he says hesitantly, taking a step towards me with open arms.

But I don't throw myself into his arms again, instead I take a step backwards, shaking my head with tears in my eyes. "I'm just the Mayor's daughter. I was never supposed get reaped. And even if I did, I was supposed to be dead by the first day. I was supposed to die, not kill." My voice cracks, my eyes meeting his, "I don't kill."

"We've all done things that we thought we'd never do," he tells me gently and I feel the tears drip onto my cheeks. Without waiting for my permission he pulls me into his embrace, stroking my hair as I cry and mumble words I doubt he understands.

"I was too late to save her, I tried but-but I c-couldn't," I weep into his shirt. "And then I killed the boy, I killed someone!"

He hushes me quietly stroking my hair. I pull away from him, frantically attacking the zipper of my jacket, his jacket. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to give you back your jacket," I say, trying to make my voice even. The zipper still won't budge and Thresh rests his hand on top of mine, stopping my frantic attempts to release myself from the jacket.

"Keep it." I look up at him, my eyes still damp and my cheeks flushed with frustration. He smiles just a little, but it's enough for the mask to disintegrate, leaving my old friend behind. He wipes a tear off my cheek with his thumb, caressing my face in his hand. "It always looked better on you anyway."

I give him a feeble smile and he pulls me into another embrace. I hold onto him like a lifeline before he lets go of me, stepping away and readjusting his pack. It's time for him to leave. I hold the remainder of the bread out to him again, "Please, take it." He looks at me still unsure, but I smile again, giving him a reassuring nod. He smiles and it's so close to his old grin that it pains me. He takes the bread from me, nodding a good bye as he disappears into the trees.

I stand frozen for a moment, almost as if I'm waiting for him to come back. "Madge," Mays says gently, "you have to get moving Madge, you can't stay here."

I do as she says, moving at a sluggish pace. I put my hands in the pockets of my jacket and feel a small, sharp object against my palm. Rue's star. I stop, taking out the little token, mentally cursing. How could I forget to give it to him! That was my one chance, and now he's gone and if I ever do see him again I know it won't be so civilized.

"Madge," Maysilee says besides me, an odd tone in her voice. I don't acknowledge her, instead formulating a plan on how to give the token to Thresh. I have to give it to him, I promised her I would. "Madge, start walking." He's probably heading to the field of grain again, that's where he at when he and Gale met up. "You need to go Madge." I could catch up to him, explain about Rue wanting him to have it, would he give me time to explain though? "Madge!" I turn to her just in time for the knife aimed for my head to go whizzing past me.

I fall flat on my stomach as the second knife cuts through the air, Clove charging at me with a sadistic grin on my face. Maysilee yells for me to run, and for once I listen to her, scrambling to my feet. Before I can take another step a knife slices into the flesh of my left arm. I cry out, the shock stalling me long enough for another of her knives to tears my forehead open. Blood pours down from the cut and I hear someone scream in pain, only to realize a second later that it was me. I'm on the ground, blood gushing down my face, the pain from the cut making me feel like I'm going to black out in any second.

Clove stalks up to me, a vicious smile gracing her lips. She stands beside me, letting out a small chuckle as she watches me squirm in agony. "Oh, come on now, I barely got you." She calmly sits on my chest so that any means of escape are eliminates before reaching down and push a finger into the gash. I scream at the shooting pain it causes and she laughs again, opening her jacket to reveal a collection of knives ranging from delicate to brutal looking. She carefully picks one out and a tiny knife no larger than the palm of my hand.

"You know, Cato isn't very happy with you. After he offered you an alliance with us and snuck out in the middle of the night with that boy, what was his name? The little scrawny kid from Four? Ronan, right?" I surge of rage rushes through me as his name leaves her mouth and she grins in satisfaction. "Yeah that's it, Ronan. Well we took care of him didn't we? Him and that little twit that had the nerve to call herself one of us. Didn't take you long to find new allies though, that little brat that liked to jump through trees and that oaf from District 11, and let's not forget Lover Boy. But we already knocked the little brat off the list, huh?"

Blood is still rushing down from my gash, but her comment about Rue enrages me enough to stay conscious. My blood drips into my mouth and I let it pool in my mouth before spitting the mouthful of blood and saliva at her. Her face flushes with rage and she sticks her finger into my wound, opening it up more the gash up even more. I scream as the ripping the agony as she runs her knife teasingly down my face. "Now where to start," she says thoughtfully before grabbing a fistful of my hair, pushing my face back as if to get a better view of me. She grins before placing the tip of the knife at the very edge of my cut, slowly pressing the knife down deep into my skin, ripping through my flesh.

I can't help the cries that exit my mouth, the string of screams and foul words. I scream for Gale, for Thresh, for Ronan, for Peeta, even for Haymitch, but no help comes. Maysilee sits by me, screaming words that I can't hear over the sounds of my own screams.

Clove removes her knife from my face, my forehead gushing blood. She looks at her handiwork with the proud smile of a sculptor. "That wasn't so bad was it?" she asks in a fake soothing voice. I spit at her again in response. She narrows her eyes, wiping the spit and blood off her cheek. She wipes the blade of her knife clean before placing it back in jacket and taking out a large one, with a thick blade and a serrated edge.

I use all my strength to try to wiggle out of her grasp but she's too heavy and I'm too weak. She laughs at my futile attempts, shaking her head at me as if I amuse her. "Let's see, how about we get rid of those pretty lips of yours, you won't need them anymore." My arms are pinned to my sides but still I try to squirm away from her, my fear overpowering my pain. My right hand touches something smooth and sharp on my belt. My knife. Clove leers over me, inspecting my lips for the perfect place to start her torture. I frantically try to wrench it free from my belt loop, staring at the girl in front of me, her eyes filled with hatred and bloodlust.

My knife comes free just as she points the tip of the blade at the corner of my lips. Without hesitation I stab my dagger into the only part of her anatomy I can reach, her upper thigh. She cries out, dropping her knife and falling backwards. I push her off of me, my vision blurring as she shrieks and howls profanities at me.

She pulls my knife out of her leg as I crawl away from her, my eyes watering and my mouth full of blood. She stands unsteadily on one leg, her arm raised and aimed straight at my heart when I hear it. The loud rushing footsteps and a familiar voice screeching my name. Cloves eyes dart to the direction of my unseen savior, giving me enough time to grab her knife she dropped earlier and throw it at her with all the strength I have.

The blade misses her vital organs but hits a spot just a fatal, her right arm. Her throwing arm. The knife pierces her flesh right below her shoulder and the way she screams makes my bones ache. The dagger in her hand falls to the floor and I see nothing but rage in her eye. I may have not killed her, but I have taken away her greatest asset. The voice yells out my name again, much closer this time and Clove takes one last fleeting look towards the sound of the voice before scampering off in the other direction.

I rest my head on the forest floor, closing my eyes against the blinding sunlight. "Madge!" I hear the voice yell again but I don't respond, lying perfectly still on my bed of pine needles. "Madge! Madge!" The voice is practically on top of me now and I hear him gasp at my current state. Sturdy arms lift my head up, gently pushing my hair away from my face. "Madge?" I blink, opening my eyes to see Thresh's anxious face looking down at me.

"Thresh?" I croak, swallowing the blood that's been leaking into my mouth. "You came back."

He ignores my comment, inspecting my cut, "Who did this to you?"

"Clove, girl from Two."

He curses under his breath before unzipping his bag and taking out a few spongy green leaves, wrapping them around my head to stop the bleeding. "Why'd you come back?" I ask, my voice small and weaker than usual.

"I heard you scream and I didn't think, I just ran."

"But why?" I ask, confused by his expression and words. We are no longer allies, and yes if I heard him screaming I wouldn't think twice about coming to his aid, but I just didn't expect him to return the favor.

He smirks, wrapping another leaf around my wound, "Would you rather I had kept going?"

I smile at him, even though the pain in my head is throbbing and my vision is only getting worse. Before I can forget second time I reach into the pocket of my jacket, retrieving the little craved star. "I forgot to give it to before," I explain a I hold the pendent out to him, "Rue she-she told me to give this to you. She gave me one too," I pull the necklace out of my shirt, showing him the little star token hanging from the woven grass. "She told me to take one for you and one for me." He stares at the small star in my hand, and I bite my lip. "It was the pendent on her-"

"They were on her necklace I know. Truth, sprit and hope." His words are full of pain and loss and I all I can do is nod tensely, trying not to make my wound bleed more. Thresh takes the star into his hand before looking back at me. "You're different."

"What?" I say in confusion.

"You're different then all of us. You have this spark I've never seen in anyone else, you don't deserve to be here."

I shake my head, wincing at the pain. "Rue didn't deserve this, or Ronan or Gale or you. None of us did."

A dark shadow crosses his face and I realize that I just said something that could be considered rebellious with all of Panem watching. But I don't care, and I refuse to take it back.

"Maybe we didn't," Thresh says, switching the blood soaked leaves with new ones, "but you're different. You're innocent and compassionate and just so damn _good_." The intensity of his words startles me and he looks at me with an emotion I've never seen before. He helps me to me feet, steadying me as I almost fall. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," I tell him, though I feel very, very dizzy. He smiles, his hard mask from earlier forgotten. "We could still be allies," I say, not wanting to let him go, not wanting to acknowledge that in order for me and Gale to live he must die.

"I think the time for allies is over Madge," he says gently. I nod once, my eyes on the floor. He pulls me into his arms, wrapping his arms around me tenderly. I hug him back, resting my aching head on his chest. "He's at the cave."

"What?" I ask, looking up at him.

His golden brown eyes are trained on mine, "Gale, he's at the cave. He told me he'd wait for you there till high noon, then he's going to try to find you." High noon, judging by the sun, it's about ten oclock, I have plenty of time to make it there before he leaves.

"Thank you," I tell him, embracing him again.

"You're welcome." He plants a kiss in my hair before pulling away and swinging his pack onto his shoulder. "Good bye Girl on Fire," he says with a smile, "I hope I never see you again."

I smile at him, "Me too, good bye Thresh." I watch as he leaves again, but this time when he's out of sight I begin my journey to the cave.

The leaves Thresh wrapped my wound with are soon drenched in blood and the liquid drips down my face once more. My footsteps are slow and unsure, following Maysilee's directions without thought. The pain goes from a dull ache to a raging agony in minutes and soon I'm hunched over a tree, my breakfast threatening to come back up. I force it down, taking long deep breathes to keep the nausea at bay, but it does nothing for the pain. Soon bright spots cloud my vision and my legs feel weak.

"Come on Madge," May tells me, urging me on, "your almost there." But almost there is too far, my body giving out on me. my knees buckle underneath me and I fall to the ground, the blackness I've fighting overcoming me. The last thing I see before I pass out is pair of brown boots coming towards me.

**okay my lovely readers! I didn't get very many reviews for last chapter (only 3!) and I really don't wanna be one of those fanfic authors that demands 10 reviews for every chapter or anything but it really sucked that I didn't get hardly any reviews! So PLEASE review, I'd love it sooooo much! Hate it? Love it? Still review! Thank you all, kisses from everyone for everyone :D**

**P.S. The song is from Les Mis and is called Castle in a Cloud. I changed two of the lyrics to go more with the story though and everyone should listen to the song because it's amazing :)**


	15. The Flame of Desire

**Hi everyone! So college is super insane right now but I'm so happy I had time to finish this chapter! Thank you to all who reviewed last chapter! I was starting to worry that no one was reading this story anymore but I'm so happy to see all the feedback! Love you guys! Enjoy :D**

**_Chapter 15_**

My room is cold and my bed is harder than usual. A draft comes in through my open window and I shiver, pulling my blanket up closer to me. My head throbs painfully, I must have a cold or maybe the flu, and my mother strokes my hair gently. No, this hand is too big to be my mother. Maybe it's my father's or Peeta's. Probably Peeta, my father should be at the Justice Building by now and Peeta and Nora are usually the ones to take care of me when I'm sick.

"You should go home before your mother gets mad," I tell him, my mouth strangely dry and my voice rough. Yes, I must have the flu. I keep my eyes closed as he continues to stoke my hair and I smile slightly, pulling my blanket up higher as another breeze comes in. "Can you shut the window? It's cold."

"I would if could." The voice does not belong to Peeta and my eyes shoot open to see Gale smirking down at me. Confusion swarms over me, what is he doing in my room? But then another gust of wind blows through the cave opening and I remember. I try sit up but Gale sticks his hand out in front of me. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

I snort, sitting up anyway only to see my vision go white and a flash of pain shooting up my body. I lay me head back down slowly, "Yeah, I think I'll stay down here for awhile," I tell him.

He chuckles, "Yes, I think that's for the best."

I let a small groan escape my lips as gingerly touch my forehead. I pull my fingers away to find them coated in sticky red blood. "How long have I been out?" I ask, looking up to find Gale purposely avoiding my eyes.

"I saw you pass out a few yards from the cave around noon and you've been out every since. I would say it's close to two in the morning." I stare at him, not believing. Hours. I've been passed out for hours and my wound has yet to stop bleeding. "I put on clean bandages when I got you in here, but it looks like it's time to change them again," he says, trying to sound calm, as if constant bleeding is nothing to be worried about.

I say nothing as he gets my first-aid kit out of my backpack and gently takes off the bandages from my head. His eyes widen before his expression quickly becomes unreadable. "It's not that bad, head wounds just tend to bleed more than usual," he tells me in a clipped voice. I say nothing, simply watching his face as he redresses my wound, tears in my eyes. He puts the old bandages on the floor and I cringe when I see them. They're not only covered in blood but also have some sort of yellow whitish colored liquid on them, a liquid I'm certain is not supposed to be there.

"How does it look?" I ask him in a quiet voice.

"Not too bad," he says. His eyes meet mine and he sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "The cut is deep and long and what you really need right now is some stitches and probably some sort of antibiotic but I think as long as we keep putting clean bandages on it, you going to be fine."

He closes up the first-aid kit, placing it back in my pack, all the while avoiding looking at me. "Gale," I say, my voice still hoarse, "if-if I don't get better-"

"You will get better."

"I know, but if I don't-"

"But you _will_! Haven't you heard, we're partners now and I'm telling you, you're going to be fine."

"But that's just it," I tell him weakly, "I don't want you to feel like you're stuck with me because of this rule change and if I don't get better, I want you to leave me."

His expression sours, his trademark scowl on his face. "Madge-"

"No Gale, I'm serious-" His lips crash against mine with such intensity that my eyes fly wide open. My words fail me as I feel his warm lips against mine and I close my eyes, kissing him back, my heart fluttering in my chest. It's my first real kiss and even though I know we are being show on every screen in the country, at the moment I simply don't care.

Gale pulls away, resting his forehead against mine, "No more talking about splitting up or you not getting better, got it?"

"Got it," I whisper, heat rising to my face. He smiles at me, leaning towards me again to place a quick, soft kiss against my lips that makes my cheeks turn a darker shade of crimson. "How about I get us some more water?"

"Okay," I say, looking down to hide my blush. My attempts must be in vain because he chuckles once, kissing my cheek before leaving the cave.

I look up cautiously to see Maysilee sitting at the far end of the cave, grinning at me and wagging her eyebrows in a teasing manner. I bite my tongue to hold back the remark I would have given her if we were home and she giggles at my expression. "So, was he a good kisser?"

I play with a loose string on my shirt, ignoring her question that she knows I can't answer. She laughs, coming to sit next to me. She hums quietly and feel myself dozing off, barely able to keep my eyes open. I catch a glimpse of her before I close my eyes, she's staring at the far wall of the cave, with a troubled expression on her face, her eyes worried as she hums the song of rebellion. _Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men!_

"Madge!" My eyes flutter but remain closed, sleep so very near that I can almost touch it. Lips press down quickly yet very softy against my own and my eyes flash open to see Gale standing above me. I beam up at him, unable to control my flood of emotions.

Gale holds a pot up, smiling down at me. "Look what Haymitch sent us."

I stare at it confused, until he lifts the lid to reveal the hot broth inside. Maysilee moves to the opposite side of the cave again and Gale sits in front of me, helping me into a sitting position. He takes a long silver spoon out of the soup pot, filling it up with the broth before bringing it to my lips.

I roll my eyes, "I am perfectly capable of feeding myself Gale."

He raises an eyebrow at me, "Oh really? Then by all means, feed yourself." I scoff at him, sitting up more so I can grab the spoon he purposely put out of reach. My head immediately begins to swirl and I lean back against the wall, closing my eyes tight to stop the room from spinning.

When I can finally open my eyes I find him smirking down at me and I sigh, opening my mouth so that he can feed me like a baby. The first few sips were okay, the broth turned out to be chicken, but I quickly realize I have no appetite. Gale frowns when I tell him I'm not hungry after only four sips of soup. "You got to be hungry, you haven't eaten all day."

"I ate breakfast," I tell him uncertainly.

He grunts at that, "Eat," he orders, pressing the spoon against my lips. I turn my face away, and he sighs, "Please Madge, for me?"

Damn, he really knows how to play me like a harp. I open my mouth obediently, swallowing down the rich liquid. "No more," I pout but he shakes his head.

"You're going to eat every last drop," he says, coaxing another spoonful into my mouth. The rest of the hour goes on like this, Gale pleading, threatening and eventually kissing me into submission until the pot is completely empty.

"Can I go to sleep now Gale?"

He shakes his head no, "I want you to stay up just a little bit longer okay?" I nod, even though I feel myself drifting off already.

A cold gust of wind blows into the cave and I shiver, pulling the blanket and the edge of the sleeping bag closer to me. I see Gale trying to cover a shiver and I slide over, patting the space next to me. He hesitates for a moment before slipping in with me, careful to avoid my wound. Still he accidently bumps the cut on my left arm making me wince. "Are you alright?" he asks concerned.

"Yes, I'm okay, I have a cut on my arm is all."

He frowns, "Why didn't you tell me?" I open my mouth to respond but he's already pulling the sleeve of my jacket up to reveal the cut. It's a minor wound, not deep at all but still he scowls at me. "You should have told me you had another cut."

I shrug and he sighs, brushing my hair off my face, wary as to not touch my gash. "What happened?" he asks, looking into my eyes with his intense grey orbs.

I swallow, unable to look away. "The girl from District Two, Clove, she found me when I was on my way here."

"And you fought her off?" he asks, his voice almost insultingly doubtful.

"Sort of," I tell him, biting my lip. He scowls again and I break down and tell him everything. How I saw Thresh in the woods after the announcement, how Clove almost killed me, how she ran off after I injured her throwing arm and heard Thresh coming.

"He came back for you?" I nod and his eyebrows furrow, "And he told you where to find me?"

I nod again and he looks down at his lap, not meeting my eyes. I turn away from him too, looking around the cave, unable to stop feeling like it's suddenly larger than it was before, without two other bodies here with us. "He told me that he left before the rule change," I tell him, a question in my voice.

Gale remains silent for a moment before saying, "He was keeping watch this morning and when I woke up he told me his was leaving. He told me that he would stay away from the cave as long as we stayed away from the field, we split the supplies in half and he left. " I bite my lip, keeping my eyes trained on his face. He's keeping something away from me, there's something that he's purposely not telling me. "Where did you go Madge? We looked for you for hours but we couldn't find you."

My cheeks redden in embarrassment, "I don't really know where I went. I just ran as fast as I could out of there and I ended up curled in a ball underneath a rock. I slept in a tree," I tell him, toying with my mockingjay pin. Something brightly colored catches my attention and I that's when I see the small neon green backpack leaning against the side of the cave.

"It was the boy from District One's," Gale tells me, watching my as stare at the pack. My breathing quickens and soon I'm hyperventilating, my head pounding in a way that's not caused by my wound. "Madge? Hey you alright?"

I can't answer him, closing my eyes tightly to get rid of the picture of a dead boy with a knife in his stomach, blood pouring out of his still body. Gale's arms wrap around me and it's only when I feel him stroking my hair and whispering soothing words to me that I realize that I'm crying again. "It's okay Madge," he says, hushing me as I sob into his shirt.

I shake my head, causing a trickle of blood to seep down my forehead. "It's not okay. I killed that boy. A boy died because of me! I killed him, b-but he killed Rue first but he was still just a _boy_, a frightened child. And now he's dead because of me."

"Madge," he says softly, trying to calm me down.

"His name was Marvel, did you know that? I remember Cato telling me his name was Marvel."

"Madg-"

"I killed Rue."

Gale makes a noise between a stutter and a snort, "You didn't kill her."

"I was the reason she died. If I had gotten there faster I could have saved her. I was too late and she died. I couldn't s-save her. Just like I couldn't save R-Ronan. I can't save anybody."

I'm rambling and I know it but I can't seem to stop, the words pouring out on their own accord. Gale pulls back from me to look in my face, touching the back of his palm to my cheek. He inhales sharply before helping me rest my head against the wall again. He grabs my backpack, taking the first-aid kit out again.

"I had a dream about her last night, but it wasn't just her, Ronan was there too and Katniss and Darius, you know Darius right? And Peeta was there too, do you remember Peeta? He's the baker's son, he taught me how to make peanut butter cookies once. My mother likes peanut butter cookies. I like chocolate chip cookies the best though. I wish we had some cookies, do you think Haymitch will send us cookies? I'm still not very hungry though, but I would eat cookies."

"Here," Gale says, handing me a two small white pills.

"What are these for?"

"Your fever, you're burning up."

I frown, "I feel fine."

"Will you just take the damn pills." Mays nods silently next to Gale and I sigh popping them into my mouth and swishing them down with a sip of water.

Drowsiness overcomes me and soon I'm struggling to keep my eyes open. "Gale?"

"Yes?"

"Can I go to sleep."

"Yes, you can go to sleep."

I slink down into my sleeping bag, pulling the blanket up to my chin. "Will you be here when I wake up?"

He doesn't answer, and for a moment I think that he may have fallen asleep when I hear him say, "Of course I will be, where else would I go?"

* * *

I wake up to rosy streaks of sunlight peeking in through the cave. I stretch, grimacing at the pain in my head. The small cut on my arm seems to be fine, scabbed over and hardy any swelling, but just be feeling alone, I know that my head is in worse shape. Clove cut me from above my right temple to more than half way across my forehead near my hairline, as if she was going to scalp me. I shiver at the thought but continue to inspect my wound by gently running my finger over my head. There's swelling and lots of it and I just now that it's infected.

"It's not so bad, I've seen worse," Mays tells me, trying to reassure me but just making me worry more. I try to sit up and find that's it's even more difficult than it was yesterday and I can hardly sit a few inches before the swirling in my head starts and white spots cloud my vision.

I groan, trying to get comfortable on the ground, scooting over to the cooler side of the sleeping bag, the side Gale slept on last night. My eyes flash open and I almost black out from pain as I jolt upright, looking around the still dark cave for him. He's gone.

My nails dig into my skin as I tear at my arm, my eyes fixed on Maysilee's calm face. She ignores me, staring at the wall and humming again. Tears sting in my eyes as I try get to my feet, falling repeatedly before I'm able to stand up by leaning partway on the wall.

"What are you doing?" I jump back in surprise, looking up to see Gale walking into the cave with a pot full of berries .

"Where were you?" I ask, my voice laced with worry. "I thought that Cato and Clove got you."

He shrugs off my comment without a second thought, helping me lay back down. "How you feeling today?"

"Alright," I tell him, though in all honesty I feel miserable. My head is throbbing more than it was yesterday and I'm in a constant state of drowsiness.

Gale scowls at me, "You're an awful liar Madge."

I scoff, rolling my eyes, "Oh please Gale, I'm a politician's daughter."

To my absolute shock and joy, he laughs, shaking his head at me. "Well, if you're well enough to make jokes that means you're getting better," he says, removing the bandages from my head. But I'm not better, if anything I'm worse, because when he looks at my wounds his face is an unreadable mask, not giving anything away. Which means that something is wrong.

"How is it?" I ask even though I don't expect an honest answer.

"It's alright, getting better." He says, his expression unwavering. I look over to Maysilee for confirmation. She stares at the floor in front of her, refusing to look at me, which tells me all I need to know. He throws the dirty bandages on the floor like he did last night and I flinch when I see yellow pus and blood caked onto the once white cotton.

Gale studies my wound for a second before grabbing the burn cream out of the pack. "What are you doing?" I ask, eyeing the container nervously.

"Experimenting," he says, unscrewing the cap.

"Do I have to be your lab rat?"

"Yes, now hold still." I brace myself as he gently rubs the burn cream over my inflamed flesh. I hold in a shriek as the cold medicine first touches my skin but it gets better after a moment I relax, my skin tingling from where the burn cream is spread on.

I bite my lip as I watch him bandage my wound up, his face inches from mine. I can still fell his lips on mine from last night and I have to force myself not to close those last few inches between us now. What if he didn't like kissing me? What if it was just a spur of the moment? My head spins as I think the worst and I see Gale looking down at me in concern. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, I'm okay."

He finishes wrapping up my head then gently touches the back of his hand to my cheek again. Wordlessly, he hands me two more fever pills and the bottle of water. "That should help the fever go down," he mutters and I nod as I swallow the pills down.

The grass from my necklace is starting to irritate my skin so I take it out from beneath my shirt. I run my finger across the wooden star pendent and I press down on the nerve in my hand to keep the tears at bay. "What's that?" Gale asks.

I swallow thickly before answering him, "It was Rue's token. She had a necklace with three stars on it, she gave two of them to me before she died. One for Thresh and one for me."

Gale wordlessly wraps my hand in his, intertwining our fingers together. He squeezes my hand once and I can't help but smile slightly at him, squeezing back. He moves a piece of hair out of my face, putting his hand tenderly behind my neck as he presses his lips against mine. It's a sweet kiss, short yet passionate and I feel my checks burn as his lips move with mine. Too soon he pulls away, looking down at me with stormy, dark eyes. He moves away from me, to my great disappointment, and holds up the pot of berries. "Are you hungry?"

"Not really," I say with a shrug. This must not have been the answer he was looking for because he scowls again. "You know, you're much more attractive when you smile than when you scowl."

His scowl deepens and I laugh, before my giggling turns into a fit of coughing. Gale kneels down next to me, patting my back as the coughs rack through my body. "I'm fine," I tell him when the coughing stops, "I'm okay."

He doesn't respond, looking down at me with unease. He checks my fever again and he yanks his hand away as if he'd been burned. He grumbles something unintelligible, rummaging through the first-aid kit again. "These tablets are barely making a dent," he mutters, more to himself than to me.

"How many do we have left?"

"Half a dozen." I force myself not to panic at his words. Six tablets? That's all. The possibility of my fever getting better before the pills run out is minable to none, and once they're gone my fever will only get worse. Until it kills me.

"You're just going to have to outlast the other Madge," Gale tells me. I see him eye my forehead before turning his eyes away. A high fever plus a major head wound. _Looks like I won't be seeing District Twelve anytime soon, _I think.

"Don't do that." I almost jump as Gale snarls at me, his face hard and angered, much like the expression he usually wore back home when around me.

The familiarity pains me and I choke out, "Do what?"

"Don't you dare give up. No, don't shake your head at me, I can see right through you Undersee." He cups his hand under my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Don't you dare even _think_ about dying, you hear me?" I nod mutely, my eyes locked with his. "Good," his lips crash against mine with a ferocity that I'm not expecting. His hand roams from my chin to my cheek, the kiss becoming tender, filling my body up with warmth.

"Don't leave me here," he says, his eyes lighter than I've ever seen them.

"I won't." I say simply and for once my cheeks don't redden as I stare into his eyes. He smiles slightly, opening his arms out. I crawl into his warm embrace, closing my eyes as he wraps his arms around me. The scent of coal somehow still clings to his body and I nestle my face in his chest, breathing in the smell of home.

Home. How are they reacting to all of this? I'm suddenly struck by the image of Katniss, my beautiful, strong friend that no one can help falling in love with. She and Gale may never have been a couple but anyone with eyes could see how they looked at each other. Does she hate me now, cuddled up next to her best friend? Maybe if Peeta fulfilled his promise to tell her, maybe she actually fees something for him too and isn't even effect by me and Gale's relationship. Relationship, is that really the word to call what we have?

My head starts to pound and again and I groan involuntarily. Gale immediately forces me to lay back down, fusing over me much like a worried parent would. Or a worried lover. _Ugh, this is not the time to be thinking like that,_ I scold myself, resting my head against the bundled up blanket that acts as a pillow.

"Aren't you tired Gale?"

He shakes his head, placing a damp piece of cloth from one of the bandages on my head. "No, I'm alright."

I frown up at him, "You have to sleep sometime, you can't live off of no sleep."

"How about this, you get some rest right now and when you wake up I'll take a nap."

"But, I'm not-" a loud yawn interrupts my objections and he chuckles, brushing my hair off my face.

"Get some more sleep Madge, you need to keep your strength up," he says, placing a kiss against my forehead.

I grin at him, "I remember when you first did that."

He cocks his head to the side in confusion, "Did what?"

"Kissed me."

He laughs, shaking his head at me. "Seeing as it was only a few hours ago I would hope you'd remember."

"No, the _first _time you ever kissed me. It was when we were kids. You kissed me right here," I say, pointing to the middle of my forehead. "That's when I fell in love with you."

His expression softens, something I've only ever seen happen when he's around his family. "I can't believe you remember that."

"Of course I remember," I tell him, my words beginning to slur together. "I remember everything about you."

My eyes close on their own accord, the amount of fatigue and fever medication finally overcoming me. I feel the gentlest touch of lips against my cheek, a hand tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear and a voice so soft that I must be imagining it, saying "I remember everything about you too. Every damn thing."

**Okay, I know it's a filer chapter but THEY KISSED! YAY! I was racking my brain out for the perfect first kiss and honestly this wasn't what I was first going to go with but after allot of thought, I decided to go with this one instead. I know there is a bit of overlap to the book in this chapter (i.e. the soup being sent after the kiss) but do not worry my fellow shippers Gale is not Katniss and Madge is not Peeta and Gadge relationship is very different from Peenis(though I love them both)! So before everyone starts freaking out and asking me if Gale is pretending like Katniss was, remember that 1. Gale is not Katniss and 2. that I'm not giving anything away right now! So no going hate reviews okay my lovely readers :D that being said PLEASE REVIEW! Kisses from Gale to all reviews ;D**

**P.S. I posted a Gadge one-shot a few weeks back if anybody wants to take a gander at it, WARNING it's really sad but I thought some of you might like it :) it's called '_Eventually'_**


	16. The Last Hope

**_Hello everyone! Sorry I didn't have this up sooner, I'm so busy with my classes, it's insane! Anywho thank you to all who reviewed, and as always ENJOY :D_**

**_DISCLAIMER: I OWN NADA_**

_Chapter 16_

_The sunlight is unnatural bright. It's as if the whole forest is illuminated by the florescent lights of the Capitol. A tiny figure jumps down from a nearby tree, landing gracefully on the balls of her feet. "Rue?"I ask, confusion in my voice. The little girl laughs, grabbing me by the hand and leading me through the thick nest of trees, branches scrapping my arms and face as I try to keep up with her. She stops as we enter a clearing, the Cornucopia glimmering in front of us. "Rue what are we doing here?" _

_She shakes her head, pointing to the mouth of the Cornucopia, "Look."_

_I look towards where she is pointing, squinting my eyes against the strange sunlight. Figures begin to appear from out of the Cornucopia. They're too far away to see clearly, all I can make out is their features. One has olive skin, the next has a tall and muscular frame and the one after him has vibrant red hair. More people come out of the Cornucopia, a short woman with dark hair, someone with a potbelly and curly dark hair, a man with a receding hairline clutching the hand of the woman next to him with long flowing blonde hair. No, not merely blonde, but golden. My body freezes as all the figures suddenly become more visible, the figures of those that I love. I call out to them but Rue grabs me tightly by the wrist. "You can't help them, you have to watch," she says looking up at me with pity in her caramel colored eyes._

_I watch helplessly as they wander into the clearing, their faces a mix of confusion and uncertainty. Then the others come. The tributes, both the deceased and the living, lurking out of the shadows of the woods, their weapons draw and ready. And then it begins. I scream as Clove's dagger imbeds itself into Nora's neck, as the disabled boy from Ten throws a spear into Darius' abdomen. I will my legs to move, to take me down to where they are so that I may help them, but it's as if an unforeseen force is keeping me in place, not allowing me to save the ones I love. I fall to my knees in agony as Peeta is beheaded by the boy from Three. I feel soft arms embrace me and look up to see Ronan rubbing my back soothingly. "What's happening?" I ask him, my voice cracking as the tears fall down my face._

_"Just watch," he says, pressing a soft kiss to my temple. I do watch, I watch as Katniss is run through by the small girl from District Eight._

_I clench my eyes shut, not wanting to watch another second of it. "No Madge, look," Rue shakes my shoulder, gesturing to the Cornucopia. I comply, opening my eyes to see the tributes circling around my mother and father. I cry out to them again, but they can't hear me, my father arms encasing her protectively. I try to close my eyes again but now they're frozen too. Cato raises his sword for the fatal blow when his face suddenly morphs. His youthful face becomes elderly, his hair turns from blonde to white and a stubble of a hair sprouts on his chin which soon turns into a full white bread. I stare at the man in front of me, my mind reeling in horror. He is no longer the boy from Two, he is President Coriolanus Snow. "_

* * *

"Madge! Madge, wake up!" I feel arms shaking me gentle and my eyes flash open. Gale hovers above me, concern etched on his handsome face. "You were thrashing in your sleep. Were you having a nightmare?"

I nod, tears forming in my eyes as I remember Snow leering over my parents. Gale looks at me for a moment before pulling me into his arms. "What was it about?"

I couldn't possibly tell the true reason for my nightmare without insuring a slow and painful death here in the arena for the both of us so I tell him, "Ronan and Rue." It seems to be a sufficient enough answer because his arms tighten around me.

The amount of sunlight lighting p the cave makes me believe that it must be somewhere around noon. I sigh, untangling myself from Gale's embrace. "You should sleep."

He shakes his head, "I'm actually not very tired. There are still some berries left if you're hungry. "

He gestures to the soup pot that Haymitch sent us, still partial filled with blueberries. I frown as he changes the subject, popping a berry into his mouth as he smirks at me. But even with the smile I can see the bags starting to form under his eyes. "Come one Gale, you said that you'd take a nap after I wake up."

"Well I changed my mind," he says stubbornly, ignoring my glare.

"I know you're tired Gale, you need to sleep sometime."

He mutters something under his breath before saying, "Fine."

I grin in spite of myself, sitting up slowly and scooting over some so that he can lie down. He hesitates before he finally lies down next to me. "I refilled the bottles, you should drink some water."

"Okay, I will."

"And the berries, you need to eat some."

"I will Gale, go to sleep."

He yawns loudly and I hold in a giggle, combing my fingers through his hair. "Wake me in a few hours, or if anything happens."

"Will do, now get some rest." He rolls onto his side, facing me with his eyes closed gently. I continue rake my fingers lightly through his thick hair, humming quietly. A moment later his mouth goes slack and soft snores escaping from his mouth. I smile, bending down to place a kiss on his cheek.

I take a few sips of water but find myself not as parched as I imagined myself to be. I take another small sip, screwing the cap back on and placing it on the floor. The blueberries are even less appealing than the water, and even though I know that I should be hungry, I have no desire to eat at all.

Gale has partially blocked the entrance to the cave with the boulder again, making it so that our hideout is hardly noticeable to any tribute passing by it. Still there is a large enough opening between the rock and the wall of the cave so that we can still keep a watchful eye out. I'm able to position myself so that I am facing the opening, my knife in my hand, though I highly doubt that there will be any trouble. There's only a few of us left, Cato, Clove, Thresh, plus me and Gale. And maybe another, it seem too early for there to only be five of us left. Either way we're far past the top eight, meaning that the camera crews have already interviewed our friends and families. I smile slightly to myself as I imagine what they must have said about me. My father would be telling them how proud he was of me, my mother would be in tears of joy as she told them how much she loved me. Peeta would be the charming, kind best friend, Nora would be the doting housekeeper, Darius, well I don't know if they'd interview a Peacekeeper, but if they did he would be the Capitol's new funny man. And Katniss, she'd probably be shy, as usual but she's charm the pants off of those reporters. I force myself not to worry about what she thinks of me and Gale's current situation.

A feeling of intense homesickness overpowers me and I press down on my nerve to stop the oncoming tears. I bite my lip as I remember my nightmare, the tributes murdering my loved ones, Cato's face transforming into Snow's. What is that supposed to mean?

I shake my head to rid myself of the images from my dream, instead focusing my attention to keeping watch. The task is tedious and tiring and I soon find myself looking at my aunt. She's resting against the opening of the cave, gazing at the back wall. She has the same expression from a few days ago, exhaustion leaking into her eyes, her eternally youthful face drooping as she stares into the nothingness. She closes her eyes gently, a flash of pain and loss crossing her shimmering features before she opens her eyes to look at me. She smiles half-heartedly. I have to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from asking her what's wrong. Even without my asking, she shakes her head at me, coming to sit next to me. "Nothing's wrong, everything's fine. You know me, I'm just paranoid is all."

I look down at my lap, giving her a tiny nod. We sit in silence, watching as the sun rises high into the sky before descending into the trees. It's late afternoon to early evening when Gale finally rises, stretching his arms above his head and cracking his back. "Well hello sleeping beauty," I tell him, jokingly using the same term he used on me the first morning when we were on the train.

He smirks, leaning in to kiss me when he realizes how late it is. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he demands, scowling at me.

I shrug, "There was no reason too. Nothing happened and besides you look better when you sleep, you don't look so mean." His scowl deepens and I laugh, but my head begins to spin as the giggles escape my mouth and I have to breathe slowly to keep the nausea away.

Gale's scowl fades quickly, replaces with worry. "Did you eat anything?"

I shake my head slowly, "Not really. I wasn't hungry."

I stare at my lap, biting my lip as I feel his eyes on me. "Did you at least drink the water?"

"Yes," I tell him, trying to sound convincing. He raises his eyebrow at me, standing and picking up one of the water bottles and giving it a shake to see how much is left.

"It's more than half way full Madge," he says, his voice half irritated and half concerned. I shrug, unable to look him in the face. He mutters something I don't catch, kneeling down in front of me. "How's your head feeling?"

"Better," I tell him, avoiding his eyes again. How could I tell him about the random shoots of pain, the multiple times my vision blurred so bad I could hardly see, the fact that every time I move my head a wave of nausea hits me?

Gale doesn't respond but I know he doesn't believe me. He presses his palm to my cheek, feeling my temperature but still managing to make my heart flutter. He only gives me one fever pill this time, though I know it's not because I'm getting better. _Only five pills left, _I think morbidly to myself as I swallow the tablets down. Gale stands above me and when I move to put the water bottle back down he narrows his eyes at me, forcing the bottle back into my hand. I raise it to my lips again, drinking the remanding water in the bottle. When it's empty I hand it back to him, smirking "Happy now?"

He grunts again, shaking the bottle to make sure it's empty. I roll my eyes and he kneels in front of me again, beginning to slowly take off the bandages. I watch his face closely, waiting for him to reassure me that I'm getting better. Instead the moment my forehead is freed from the bandage his face goes pale and I hear him take a sharp intake of breath.

"What is it?" I ask in alarm, my fingers going instinctively to my head.

Gale pushes my hand away, vainly trying to cover up his horror at what is happening to my wound. "You just have to outlive the others, they'll fix you in the Capitol."

My face drains of color at his words and in a fit of strength I'm able to sit up out of Gale's grasp, snatching the pot next to me and dumping the berries onto the floor as I turn it upside down to look at my reflection. I gasp as I stare at myself. The pot is not nearly as good as a proper mirror but I can still make out how awful it truly is. And how I'm already as good as dead. The skin around my wound is tight, shiny and inflamed as well as swollen, with bits of yellow crust surrounding the edges of it. But that's not the thing that makes me know I'm a goner. It's the thin red streaks that start from the edge of my wound and begin to crawl down my forehead, in the direction of my heart. Blood poisoning. No wonder Gale looked so mortified, I'll be dead within a few days.

Gale tries to pull me into his arms but I'm frozen where I sit, staring at the red lines that mean death. My death. "It's going to be okay, they'll fix it when we get to the Capitol." I say nothing and he yanks the pot from my hands, putting it on the floor before caressing my cheek gently. He's looking at me as if he expects me to break down and cry, but I don't. If I'm going to die I'm not going to spend my last moments blubbering about it. "You'll be fine."

I nod once for his benefit and he pulls me into his embrace. I wrap my arms frailly around his neck, resting my head against his chest. I close my eyes as I listen to the soothing rhythm of his heart beating. He pulls away too soon, bandaging my head once more. Once that's done he orders me to eat the rest of the berries, scooping them back into the pot for me. "You need to keep your strength up," he says, handing me the pot of berries.

I eat slowly, and only because he watches to make sure I do, but I know that the food is wasted on me. Gale gives me a smile and a kiss as an award for finishing the berries and I can't help but smile back at him. "Are you still hungry? I could make you some soup."

I shake my head, "No, I'm alright. Thank you though." I scoot over slightly, patting the space next to me. Gale smirks at me but sits down nonetheless, putting his arm around my shoulders. I wiggle closer to him, sighing in content. He laces his fingers through mine, squeezing my hand in our silent code. I squeeze his hand back, closing my eyes as I try not to think about what my parents must be going through right now. Surely they know how serious the infection is, and even if they didn't know the Commentators would have been sure to bring it up.

Gale plays with my hair, twisting and twirling pieces together. "Madge?"

"Mhmm?"

"Did you mean what you said before you feel asleep? About remembering that day?"

I immediately know what day he's talking about. "Yes," I say quietly, turning my face into his shirt so that he can't see me blush.

He stays silent for a moment and I bite my lip as I wait for his reply. "What made you like me?"

My cheeks turn even redder at his question but I force myself to answer him. "Because you helped me. I mean, those boys were picking on me and you stopped them. That took allot of courage, even for a nine year old," he chuckles into my hair and I smile, looking up at him. "Not to mention you were cute, and you held my hand when you walked me home. And then you gave me a kiss on the forehead. After that, I was a goner."

"I wish you had told me."'

I look down at my lap, shaking my head, "You hated me."

Gale cups his hand under my chin, gently urging me to look at him. "I _never_ hated you Madge."

I smile at him and this time I'm the one to lean in. His lips are gently against mine, soft and tender and making my stomach do somersaults. Gale breaks the kiss first, smiling at me. "I wish I told you before," I say, laying my head on his chest again, "but I was too scared."

"Why were you scared?"

I scoff at him, "In case you haven't noticed, you're pretty intimidating."

He laughs, playing with my hair again, "I'm sorry. I wish I wasn't so…"he pauses, as if searching for the right word.

"Hostile?"

I feel his chest rumble with a chuckle, "Yeah, hostile. You're really nothing like I thought you'd be."

"Is that a good thing?"

He presses a kiss onto the top of my head, "Yes."

I smile, picking my head up to look at him, "Well I never dreamt that you'd actually be talking to me without any hint of sarcasm or calling me Princess every two minutes," I tease.

He rolls his eyes at me, pulling me closer to him. "I remember seeing you for the first time that day. Those boys had you pressed against a wall and then one of them hit you and I just lost it." He tucks a strand of hair back into my braid, looking down at me with an emotion I can't describe. "I didn't care whose daughter you were or where you lived, I just couldn't stand to seeing you like that."

I smile at the memory of nine year old Gale standing above me, yanking my attackers off me, helping me pick up my pencils and crayons. "I was scared that you were just going to join them, I never imagined that you'd actually help _me_. And then you smiled at me and asked me my name and told me that you were nine and a half and that I shouldn't walk home because it's not safe." I let a giggle escape my mouth, looking up at Gale, waiting for him to continue that story.

He smirks at me, kissing my cheek, "You have a remarkable memory."

My smile falters some, but I try to not read too much into his words. "I told you, I remember everything about you."

"I guess that's true." Gale leans closer to me, our lips almost touching when a flash of white hot pain rakes though my body, emanating from my head down to my toes. I cry out, my hand grasping onto Gale's. "Madge! Madge!"

I can't answer, too occupied in my pain to offer him any words of reasoning or relief. And just as quick as the pain began, it's over, leaving me out of breath and with a pounding headache. I open my eyes to see Gale hovering over me, his eyes dark and stormy as he stares at me in worry. "I'm okay," I tell him weakly, not wanting him to worry anymore than he needs to.

He shakes his head at me, "I don't know what that was but it was _not_ okay." Gale presses his hand against my cheek, his burrow furrowing even more. "We need to get that fever down." He takes out another fever pill, making me wash it down with another full bottle of water. He then takes a strip of bandage and wets, placing it gentle underneath my gash.

My body aches and I feel as if I might throw up at any moment. But still I somehow manage to give Gale a small smile as he hovers over me, running his hands through his hair nervously. I know that he's completely lost, that he has no clue how fix me. Yet, somehow I doubt that I can be fixed at all, I'm already on death's door step, I'm not long for this world. Another two or three days and then I'll join Rue and Ronan and Maysilee. My gaze wanders to my aunt, sitting perfectly still against the cave wall. Will I end up like her? Stuck here forever, watching those I love grow up, move on and eventually forget all about me. Certainly there were other people that once cared about her other than just my mother and Haymitch. Once I'm gone, will I haunt Gale's nightmares as Maysilee haunts Haymitch's?

I close my eyes softly as Gale removes the damp strip of bandage, replacing it with a new one. He's crouching besides me, placing the strip onto my head, when the sounds of trumpets blare across the arena. My eyes flash open as Gale jumps to his feet, rushing to the mouth of the cave to hear the announcement. Claudius Templesmith's voice greets us in his cheerful Capitol accent, inviting us to the feast. Gale looks back to me, shrugging off the announcement. I wave it off as well, we really are not in any dire need of food, and feasts always end up in bloody battles.

"Now hold on," Claudius voice booms, "some of you may already be declining my invitation. But this is no ordinary feast. Each of you needs something desperately." My eyes widen as Gale's head whips around to stare at me. At my head. "Each of you will find that something in a backpack marked with your district number, at the Cornucopia at dawn. Think hard about refusing to show up. For some of you, this will be your last chance."

His words hang thick in the air, the forest unnaturally still. "No," I say with as much strength as I can manage. "You're not going." Gale has his back to me, staring out at the sky from the opening of the cave. "Gale!"

He shakes his head as he looks at me, "You can't stop me Madge."

"No!" I cry, leaning against the wall to try to get to my feet. "If you're going then so am I."

He scoffs at me, going to the black backpack laying on the floor of the cave. "You can't even sit up without almost passing out. You're staying here."

"Then so are you!"

"I'm going and that's the end of it! There is nothing you can do to stop me."

I watch with tears in my eyes as he slides his knife into his belt loop, stuffing one of the water bottles into his bag and swinging the bow and quiver onto his shoulder. "I'll follow you."

He freezes in his tracks, the backpack halfway onto his back. "You couldn't make it a mile without passing out," he tells me, but I can hear an edge of doubt in his voice.

"Maybe not, but if I go stumbling in the woods after, screaming your name, I'm sure someone or something will find me. And I won't be able to protect myself so I'll be dead for sure."

I stare at his back, willing him to believe me. I would do it, even with all the pain and Maysilee screeching at me the whole way, I would follow him, I just hope that he'll believe me so that I don't have to. He finally turns around to face me, his grey eyes narrowed into silver slits. "What do you expect me to do? Watch you die!"

"I won't, I swear! If you stay here I won't die, I'll get better, I promise. I'll start eating and drinking and I'll get better, I'll outlast the others! As long as you don't go." I know I'm rambling again and I force my mouth closed, looking up at Gale, pleading him to stay.

He mutters something unintelligible before saying, "Fine." I beam up at him, though he doesn't meet my gaze. He and I both know that chances of me getting out of here alive I slim to none, but I will try get better, at least for his sake. "I'm going to go see if any of my snares caught anything." My smile diminishes, does he really think I'm that naive? He finds me glaring at him and he rolls his eyes, putting the bag back on the ground along with the bow and arrows. "I'll be right back," he tells me, kissing my cheek.

I don't respond, watching as he leaves the cave. I rest my head against the wall of the cave. I know fully well that he probably still plans on going to that feast, Gale Hawthorne is not a man to give in so easily. But he wouldn't leave without any supplies other than a medium size knife would he? No, even he is not so reckless. Two minuets pass, then five, soon ten, and I find myself gnawing on my bottom lip as I wait for him. _What could possibly be taking so long?_

My nails dig into my left arm, my eyes locked on May's overly calm face. "He's fine," she says without looking at me, "he's on his way back right now."

Sure enough, he appears as if magically in the mouth of the cave. "Did you catch anything?" I ask him with a smile, trying to cover up how miserable I am.

He smirks at me, holding up two squirrels, and what seems to be a leaf with mashed up berries sitting of it "And I have a special surprise for desert," he says with a grin.

_Well at least he's in better spirits, _I think to myself. Gale starts a small fire at the opening of the cave by the stream, roasting the squirrels and a few of the remanding roots and greens over it. When they're done I eat half of a squirrel and a whole root, ignoring my stomach's objections, as I tell him how much better I'm feeling and how delicious everything is. Gale gives me on more of the fever pills, and I drain a whole bottle of water. He smirks at me again once I'm done with dinner, "Now, time for the surprise."

I force myself to smile as he grabs the leaf that the mash of berries sits on top of. He scoops some onto the spoon from the broth and I open my mouth wide as he feeds me the first spoonful. I frown slightly at the overly sweet taste, "Are you sure this are okay? They're very sweet."

"Yes they're fine, I found them by the one of my snares, they're honeysuckle berries, you've never had them before?"

I shake my head no as I open my mouth for the second spoonful. "They seem familiar though." Very familiar, in fact.

He smirks at me, scooping the last bit onto the spoon, "Well I guess you've never had them sine you're so partial to strawberries," he teases me.

I smile at him, remembering all those Sundays waiting for him to knock on my door. "I guess so," I say, taking the last spoonful in my mouth. "These are good though, just very sweet. Sweet as syrup." My eyes widen as the realization strikes me. I try to spit it back up but Gale clamps his hand over my mouth and nose, forcing me to swallow.

The world is already turning fuzzy and my eyelids seem impossibly heavy. Maysilee stands behind Gale, a tiny apologetic smile on her face, "Sorry sweetie, this was for your own good."

I feel the world fade away as I slump into the floor. The last thing I feel is lips on my cheek and a deep voice saying, "Sweet dreams Princess. Told you, you couldn't stop me."

**_Raise your hand if you loved it! ok now raise your hand if you hated it! Now raise you hand if you haven't raised your hand yet! Haha ok, well loved it or hated it please REVIEW! Thank you! Kisses from a very drugged Madge :D _**


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